Natsuki the Vampire Slayer: Almost Human
by KumoOokami
Summary: Sequel to A Slayer Forged.  Natsuki is starting senior high school this year, but harder classes are the least of her worries.  It seems like everything in her life is changing and there is a powerful evil to be fought.  AU/OOC  MaiNat ShizNat Others  .
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: You know the drill. None of this is mine.

(Minor Author's note: I have decided that Natsuki's senior high school, unlike many schools in Japan, will not have classes on Saturday. I figure her life as a Slayer sucks enough already without adding that inhumane torture into the mix.)

NtVS:

Almost Human

"_You think you know what's to come, what you are. _

_You haven't even begun."_

Fujino Estate: December, 1999

Natsuki shifted impatiently on the comfortable leather chair where she sat waiting for Shizuru. She was in the Fujino library, reading an old copy of The Book of Five Rings. Takeda had recommended it to her a few weeks ago when she had dropped in on his kendo team's practice for some sparring. He had opined that Miyamoto-sensei really knew what he was talking about in terms of strategy for swordsmen. Natsuki had recognized his comment for what it really was: showing off in order to impress her into wanting to date him, but she decided to give the book a glance anyway since apparently it was a classic.

Reading through the Book of Fire she had to agree that Musashi had some sensible points. His emphasis on making sure to always keep your enemy off balance and striking only with intent to cut were strategies she employed regularly. Disabling an opponent's limbs in order to be able to get to the killing blow was a favoured tactic of Natsuki's. Both her thick bladed old knife and more recently her own natural boneclaws had destroyed the joints of many vampires and demons. She was a bit less certain about what he meant when he referred to one's "spirit" in fighting, she would have to ask Midori.

Hearing someone enter the room Natsuki looked up with the beginnings of a grin on her face, expecting to see Shizuru. Instead standing just inside the doorway was the pale, almost painfully thin form of Sakuya, Shizuru's mother. Years ago, before Natsuki had met her Sakuya had been an artist; the large Fujino home still had some of her sculptures decorating its many rooms. She had once been a kind and vibrant woman, but she had sunk into a depression after two miscarriages and the death of her newborn son almost ten years ago. Sakuya had been getting by until a few years ago when she suddenly took a turn for the worse. After that none of the medications the doctors could prescribe her seemed to bring her any measure of relief from the intense darkness inside.

Natsuki became distinctly uncomfortable when those dull, hollowed out brown eyes found hers. Still she'd speak politely and hope for the best. She stood up from her chair and bowed formally, "Fujino-sama is there anything I can help you with?" She asked in a clearly enunciated voice.

Sakuya wandered over unsteadily and sat down heavily on the chair next to the one that Natsuki had been using. "I do not think there is anything that one like _you_ could do to help me." The older woman glanced at her, brown eyes suddenly clear and sharp, "Healing is not what your kind is for."

Natsuki shifted from foot to foot nervously, "Um... did you want me to leave you alone and go somewhere else?"

The thin woman shook her head slowly, sharp brown eyes still studying Natsuki, seeming to be trying to see under her skin, dissect her. "No... stay. I wish to speak with you."

Natsuki swallowed hard and sat back down on the chair she had been using, making certain to keep her posture straight and her expression as neutral as possible, despite how fast her heart was beating. "With me Fujino-sama?" She asked, both puzzled and fearful.

"Yes... I feel it is time I let you in on _my_ secret." She brought up a bony hand to prop up her angular chin. "I did not want to tell you because I am angry with you. ...But they would not leave me in peace until I did. Not that I will ever again be at peace, but at least perhaps not always in pain." The words were laced with bitterness as she glared at Natsuki.

The dark haired teen wracked her brain for a diplomatic response hoping not to antagonize the woman further, "What did you need to tell me?"

Sakuya sighed dramatically before responding her voice pained, "There are dark times coming."

A sad nod, "You are not the first to say so... there was another, he told me that I needed to be ready."

The thin woman scoffed, running her lightly shaking hand through tangled dark hair, "You will not be ready."

Natsuki narrowed her eyes, "What makes you say that? I train every day."

"It will not be enough when it counts." Sakuya shrugged, "I _see_ things. Visions I guess you could say. There are not medications that will make them go away. They say you will not be ready." Sharp brown eyes glared into green, "You will push her into the darkness of your calling. You will destroy her."

Natsuki felt cold fear in her heart. She knew who Sakuya spoke of without asking. "Shizuru is my best friend; I would cut my own heart out before I hurt her!"

"Do not make promises that are not in your power to keep killer." Sakuya said that frightening hot anger flashing in her eyes, the same that Shizuru sometimes displayed. "I know what you are. You are just a killer. You do not help people." Sakuya shook her head disdainfully, "My husband and I feed and clothe you, but you do not serve the Fujino household."

"Fujino-sama, Midori and your family... you're the most important people to me in the entire world. You are my family. Why would I not always do all that I can to protect you?" Natsuki questioned slowly, trying to stay calm, wondering if there was any point debating a crazy woman.

The thin woman just shrugged, "A samurai cannot serve two lords. You will do what you must. You are a warrior who will always do the right thing. You will make whatever sacrifices you must for your _calling._" She spit out the word, her disgust with Natsuki's destiny clear. "My only consolation is that I will not be here to see it." Sakuya turned her brown eyes from the Slayer, when she spoke again she no longer sounded angry, only exhausted. "Leave me, killer. I do not wish for you to be in my presence any longer, it pains me to look at your face."

Shaken Natsuki stood stiffly, offering the woman who she used to be on friendly terms with a shaky bow before quickly exiting the room. She wanted desperately to dismiss Sakuya's words as just the babblings of a crazy woman, but Duran had also given her a warning that dark times were coming. The Slayer quickly exited through the back door at the bottom of the stairs, feeling unwelcome in the home of her best friend. Standing outside in the cold garden that was showing its dull winter colours, Natsuki gazed up at the dark moonless sky. This far out from the main city there were many stars visible, green eyes scanned the sky until they located the commanding form of the warrior Orion, forever travelling the sky alone, hunting his prey. _I don't want to be alone. But I don't want to endanger those I care for either. I don't even know how much distance I need to keep. Duran how am I supposed to protect them?_

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

Kyoto, Japan; February 2000

The black kimono was the most uncomfortable thing she had ever worn, but for once Natsuki didn't care. It felt only right that she should be uncomfortable on such an occasion. Officially it had been ruled an accident. Natsuki wasn't sure what the truth was, but she had her doubts about the official story. She stared unblinkingly at the white wooden box as it was pushed into the flames of the hot furnace, the heavy door slamming shut behind it with an echoing finality.

Natsuki hadn't known what to think when Midori had come to her at school while she was just finishing up her yearend exam for Japanese History. When she saw her Watcher loitering in the hall with an unreadable expression on her face, it had been all the teenager could do to concentrate long enough to bubble in five more answers and ask the teacher monitoring their exam to be excused, gesturing to her guardian's tall form. When she approached Midori, it seemed to take a few moments for the Watcher to notice her. Once she did, finally looking up from studying worn boots, Natsuki noticed that those hazel eyes were shining with intense emotion right before Midori pulled her into a hard hug, murmuring her Slayer's name in a rough voice. The Slayer was surprised to smell alcohol on her Watcher's breath so early in the day. For a moment Natsuki just allowed herself to enjoy the hug, even though she knew that if Midori was here hugging her like this, something was not right. "Midori, what's wrong?" She finally asked softly, afraid to hear the answer.

Midori just shook her head, her eyes darkened to gold with emotion as she offered Natsuki her hand, "Come with me, I don't want to tell you this here."

Natsuki hesitantly slipped her hand into her Watcher's larger one and followed as Midori led her out of the school. They walked a short distance to a nearby park and sat down on one of the benches despite the cold winter day. The trees were bare of leaves and the pond was still, its glassy waters disturbed only by a lonely brown duck who paddled aimlessly away from them. There were thin grey clouds in the sky, but no sign of rain or snow. Even after they sat down Natsuki kept holding onto her Watcher's hand, knowing already that she would soon need the comfort.

"It's Sakuya." Midori offered finally, clenching her hand that rested on the knee of her plaid pants into a fist. "They... found her. On the highway. Very early this morning. Her parents were called in because Hirotaka just didn't want to believe what he was seeing. They identified her body..." She trailed off, her voice cracking. She raised her hand to rub her eye with the heel of her palm. "They said it was an accident. She was walking along the highway, and there was a freight truck." She let out a ragged sigh. "Her parents were able to identify her based on a piece of jewellery that was a family heirloom." Natsuki had just clung desperately to her Watcher's hand as they sat there on the cold park bench for another hour before they headed back home.

When they got home Natsuki had attempted to be by Shizuru's side, but she had been rushing around with her dad, trying to coordinate the funeral arrangements with Sakuya's parents. Shizuru's face had been an emotionless mask as she ran around telling people where to set up the white drapes and flowers near the family altar. According to Natsuki's friend Fujikawa, a young doctor who worked at a nearby hospital, funerals like this were extra trying because it was difficult for the coroner to get enough of the body together for the casket. "The only blessing is that we do mostly cremations in this country, so it ends up looking basically the same after that." It had just been an offhand comment of his at the time.

As the family walked out of the crematorium to wait for the call that the bones were ready, Natsuki turned to look at Shizuru walking silently next to her father. The older girl's face was still that same emotionless mask it had been days ago when they received the news. The funeral arrangements and wake had taken longer in Sakuya's case, because her parents had wanted them to be held in Kyoto where Sakuya had grown up. Natsuki had tried to speak to her friend a few times, but she couldn't find any words to say that wouldn't sound horribly inadequate. She couldn't quite get the courage to reach out and hug her old friend either, as Shizuru was giving off vibes that said she just wanted to be left alone. Natsuki just really didn't think that now was a good time for Shizuru to be left alone.

To make matters worse, Sakuya's extended family seemed completely unaware that her death might not have been an accident. So at the wake they had all kept approaching Shizuru with their condolences and their praises for how Sakuya was such a wonderful woman in life. Shizuru accepted all of their wishes politely, but Natsuki could tell that her friend was just trying her hardest to fake it. Natsuki felt a gentle hand on her shoulder, and turned to see Midori next to her, a sympathetic look in her eyes. "Hey, why don't we give the two of them some time alright? Let's go over by the water while we wait."

Hearing the hint of an order in her Watcher's voice, Natsuki nodded and the two of them walked slowly to the nearby lake. She looked at the tall woman walking beside her. Midori was wearing a nice black dress suit instead of a kimono since it was difficult to find women's kimono long enough unless she got one custom made. Natsuki thought her Watcher looked great as always, even if the occasion made it difficult to appreciate anything.

Watcher and Slayer stood looking over the calm water, neither speaking for long minutes. Midori stood behind Natsuki gently rubbing her tense shoulders for a bit before resting her chin on top of the Slayer's dark hair and letting out a long sigh. "Natsuki this really sucks." The older redhead whined, as though she expected Natsuki to have all the answers about how to deal with this impossible situation.

"I have no idea what to say to her." Natsuki's voice was almost too soft for her Watcher to hear, even though they were so close.

Midori just shrugged her breath ruffling Natsuki's hair that was for once done up in the formal fashion instead of falling free down her back. "Sometimes there aren't any words. Sometimes all you can do is to be there for them when they need you."

Natsuki gave a sad smile and thanked her Watcher. Midori always seemed to know what to do. Hours later they were standing together as Hirotaka and Shizuru carefully placed the bones in the urn, lifting the large pieces together with their chopsticks. As Natsuki gazed into her friend's dull, emotionless rusty eyes she wasn't so sure that just being there would be enough. She still didn't know what to do.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

A week after the funeral, Natsuki was sitting alone in her room reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Yamada had bought her the three books that had been released so far as a present for graduating junior high. She hadn't even gotten her final exam results back yet, but Yamada had said he knew she would do great. Natsuki was painfully grateful for the distraction after the events of the past few weeks. Some days Natsuki still couldn't believe what had happened. She kept thinking back to that last conversation she'd had with Sakuya and couldn't help wondering what the woman had been trying to tell her. Sakuya said she saw things, had visions. What could have been so bad that she would step in front of a speeding truck? Or was it really all just the ramblings of a severely depressed woman whose medication wasn't working?

Natsuki let out a heavy sigh and set her book down on the futon next to her, unable to concentrate on reading anymore no matter how much she liked werewolves and super-intelligent witches with the ability to be more than one place at the same time. _Remind me to think about the possibilities for that when I'm less depressed. _She was still laying there staring blankly up at the ceiling an hour later when she heard a soft knock on her room's open door. She looked over to see Shizuru standing there in her doorway, looking elegant as ever in a red silk shirt and black dress slacks. Natsuki felt her heart clench when she saw her friend was wearing the same almost emotionless expression that had been present since her mother's death.

"Shizuru!" Natsuki called out with surprise, standing quickly to greet the exhausted looking girl. She walked over and gave her best friend a hug, only to pull away when Shizuru stiffened uncomfortably at her touch. "Hey." She spoke softly, awkwardly backing away to give her friend some space, "Did you want to come in?"

Shizuru shrugged but stepped casually into the small room, her blank gaze staring straight ahead, not looking at anything even Natsuki. "Did you want to sit down or anything?" Natsuki asked hesitantly. She wanted so desperately to help her friend feel better, she was so scared of saying the wrong thing and making it worse but doing nothing was just so difficult.

The older girl shook her head, dull dirty blonde hair falling in her eyes. "No. I just needed to bring you this." Shizuru walked over to her friend and roughly shoved a bag that she had been carrying into Natsuki's hands. "She left it to you in her will." She spoke flatly, her voice devoid of emotion.

"Shizuru..."

"Don't." She let out a shaky sigh, "I can't right now."

"She loved you."

At Shizuru's sharp intake of breath Natsuki was relieved for a moment, thinking that Shizuru might finally allow herself a moment to grieve. Instead when those red eyes met hers, Natsuki found herself backing away at the raw anger flashing in them. "Don't even say those words to me like you believe them Natsuki. I'll hear lies from anyone else, but not you."

Natsuki's voice trembled as she replied, "I didn't mean it as a lie Shizuru."

"How can you say that? I meant so little to her. She hardly ever looked at me. No matter how hard I tried to be the perfect child for her I was never enough. How can you say she loved me after that?" Shizuru didn't shout, her words spoken evenly with what the hunter in Natsuki recognized as a deceptive calm before the strike.

"She was not well... I don't think she wanted to be like that."

Shizuru took several deep breaths to calm her rage, but her fists were still trembling at her sides. "I can't talk about this right now." She stepped away heading for the door, "I just need to be alone. Good day Natsuki." A moment later she was gone, leaving Natsuki alone in her room again.

The Slayer tried to fight down the helpless tears that sprang to her eyes as she watched her friend walk away from her angry, but a few still leaked out to fall down her cheeks. She didn't bother to try to wipe them away as she staggered back over to her futon to sit down. Her whole body ached like she had gone a few rounds with a ten foot demon wielding a sledgehammer. She dropped the plain brown paper supermarket bag on the futon next to her as she grabbed the beaten up plush wolf that had been lying on the covers. "Duran." She murmured into the soft fur, "This sucks."

Natsuki just sat there for a while snuggling the stuffed wolf for comfort, breathing slowly until the simple act of drawing air into her lungs didn't cause pain. She knew that Shizuru was grieving, but her friend speaking harsh words to her for any reason seemed to cut into Natsuki easier than any weapon. The two of them almost never fought and Natsuki hoped that Shizuru would allow her to apologize, even if she didn't think she had been wrong. After a while, she looked at the brown paper bag, slightly curious despite herself as to what could possibly be inside. _I thought Sakuya hated me, why would she leave me anything in her will? I wouldn't be surprised if it was a series of depressing haiku written on toilet tissue. _

_I see dark times soon. _

_The Slayer is not prepared._

_All her friends will die._

_...wow I feel inspired already._

The fact that whatever it was had been simply shoved in a grocery bag like this really showed how angry Shizuru was feeling at her mother's death. Shizuru was the type to wrap a present in elegant paper so perfectly that you felt bad about having to rip the paper to open your gift. _And of course I just had to go and say the wrong thing and make her feel even worse._ The Slayer sighed sadly as she reached into the bag and pulled out the object inside. Her eyes widened in surprise as she took in what Sakuya had left for her. It was a wooden carving. Sakuya had done most of her work with clay or stone, but the carving was beautiful. _Did she make this before she met me? Or did she somehow make this recently even though she was barely coherent most days these last couple of years?_

The carving wasn't very large; Natsuki could hold it easily in both hands. Studying the light unpolished wood she could hardly believe what she was looking at. The carving was of a large wolf, sitting protectively over a little girl. The little girl had her knees drawn up to her chest with her head resting on them, her long hair falling in her face. The wolf was gently rubbing its huge muzzle against her neck as though to comfort her. _This is me and Duran._ She thought with a gasp. Natsuki had never told anyone about Duran, not even Midori or Shizuru. _Sakuya said she saw things._ It was such an amazing piece of art, even if the girl seemed sad. Natsuki found it difficult to believe that the same angry woman she had spoken with a few months ago would want to give her something so beautiful. She wondered when Sakuya had decided that she wanted Natsuki to have this. She also worried that she should be taking the words Sakuya had spoken to her in the library that night much more seriously than she had been. _Duran, how will I know if I'm ready? You said dark things are coming, what can I do to keep Shizuru safe? Help me._

Natsuki just lay on her futon staring at the ceiling for hours. For once when Midori came to ask her what she'd like for dinner she told her that she wasn't hungry. The Watcher looked worried, but allowed her Slayer some space. Natsuki was scared; she knew everything was going to be changing this year. In less than two months she was starting senior high school, and now she knew from those warnings that harder classes were going to be the least of her worries.


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: Sunrise blah blah, Joss Whedon blah blah.

(Author's Note: Wow, two chapters for you lucky kids today since I felt bad about the first one being all depressing. :-P Don't get used to it though! After this I'm not doing anymore angst-relief coddling.)

Fujino Residence, Early March 2000

Midori gazed at Natsuki with concerned hazel eyes, watching as the Slayer went through her training routine with her crossbow. She was practicing shooting while moving, and the number of bolts stuck in the wall behind the practice dummy clearly showed how the Slayer's accuracy was reduced. It puzzled the Watcher, because Natsuki always had great accuracy when throwing her knife. Still a crossbow had better range than a knife, even one thrown with Slayer strength and with wooden bolts it was the superior choice to take out a vampire at range. _Of course it also hasn't escaped my notice that she hasn't exactly been able to concentrate lately either._

The Watcher sighed sadly. She didn't like having to make this decision, and she really wished there was another way, but she'd realized a week ago that the only way to help snap Natsuki out of her depression was a complete change of routine. Last week she had signed Natsuki up to live at the dorms at the senior high school. She'd gotten the idea when Hirotaka had informed her that Shizuru would be staying at the dorms for the next year as well, since he would be on lots of long trips for work this year. Midori knew that the trips were really just her old friend's way of dealing with his grief over the loss of his wife; she only hoped that the change of scenery would be good for Shizuru as well. Despite all of her worries for the two girls, she was pretty sure she had something lined up so that she could keep a closer eye on them.

"Hey Natsuki," She called out, "come here for a minute."

The Slayer eagerly set the crossbow down on the flimsy card table against the wall, wiping sweat from her face with a t-shirt sleeve as she walked over to her Watcher. "I know I suck today Midori, I don't know why I can't seem to shoot worth anything lately." Natsuki complained, shaking her head with obvious frustration.

"It's alright Natsuki; you don't have anything to explain." Midori looked into her Slayer's eyes for a moment, noting the lingering sadness there. She knew that the girl was frustrated at being unable to help her friend with the grief over her mother's death, perhaps partially because Shizuru had been the one to pull Natsuki out of her own grief years ago. The problem, Midori knew, was that her Slayer liked to be able to fix things by _doing_ something and this was a situation that didn't call for action of any kind, not even talking. Natsuki would have to be patient, allowing Shizuru to know that she was there for her but not pushing Shizuru into talking about things before she was ready. Midori just hoped that her plan for giving the Slayer some distraction would work before the girl inadvertently widened the rift between herself and her best friend. "I didn't actually want to talk to you about training."

"Then what did you want to talk about?" Natsuki asked warily, and Midori tried not to feel hurt at the suspicion in the teen's eyes. Midori knew that the Slayer still trusted her when it counted, but the distance that seemed to be between them these days was difficult even though she knew it was mostly because of the crazy new hormones infecting the teenager's system.

"Alright Natsuki, I want you to hear me out before you overreact about this understood? I was talking to Hirotaka and he told me that Shizuru was going to be living at the dorms at St. Peter's-"

"I still can't believe that Hirotaka decided to enrol us in a freaking Catholic school. What's up with that? He's a Buddhist just like us." Natsuki asked incredulously, "If there's mandatory church every week or something, I'm dropping out and going to public school."

"Natsuki I thought I told you to let me finish?" She pretended to scold her Slayer, but Natsuki could see Midori fighting back a grin and smiled brattily when the redhead punched her playfully in the shoulder. "Yes it's a Catholic school. Hirotaka picked it because apparently it has a really awesome English Business program or something and some special type of Student Council system that looks really great if you want to be going into any business management or political science type degree in university. Also from what I hear there is no mandatory church, there is a church on campus but no one is required to go in unless they do something to warrant... disciplinary action."

Natsuki snorted loudly, "So even they admit that church is torture if they're using it for punishment?"

Midori laughed, "Yeah... so anyway I thought that since Shizuru was going to be staying in the dorms that you might want to as well. I was going to be moving into a flat in the city next month, since Hirotaka and Shizuru aren't going to be around much and it would be pretty lonely living out here without them or most of the staff around."

"You're moving?" Natsuki asked, her voice trembling slightly. "Are you tired of living with me?"

The redhead growled as she cuffed her Slayer upside the head, "Slayer stop being ridiculous. You know that's not what I'm trying to say."

"But I really like living with you." The Slayer's voice was soft, and she had the good grace to look a bit sheepish. "I don't know why I said that, I know you care about me."

"Pfft whatever, you're just being a ridiculous teenager. Now I told you to hear me out, you want to stay quiet for a minute and let me explain my reasons before you jump to conclusions that insult both of our intelligences?" Natsuki nodded, though she still had that bratty pout on her face. Midori grinned; Natsuki was so cute even when she was being aggravating, "Alright good. Just try to think a bit before you say things and you'll be fine. Look Natsuki... I know you've been having a difficult time lately, mostly because of Sakuya's death but also just because you're growing up. Anyway, I know from my own life that sometimes a big change can help you to get things into perspective. Also I think that living at the dorms would be a great way for you to make some new friends too."

"I'll just miss seeing you every day."

Midori's eyes twinkled mischievously, "You might see me more than you think."

"But I can come visit you right?" The Slayer pleaded.

"My feelings would be hurt if you didn't." Midori made her best puppy eyes, "You think I haven't worried about you going off to high school and forgetting all about your boring old Watcher?"

Natsuki smiled slightly at her Watcher's silliness and pulled her into an extra squeezey Slayer hug before responding to the jest seriously, "I could never forget about you. Midori you're the person that saved me. I don't think I'd even be alive without you." She spoke softly as she thought about her time at the First District, she still remembered the day she first met Midori there. The First District had been trying to turn her into a simple killing machine, and then Midori had come along and gently taught her what it meant to be human again.

"Thank you Natsuki." She gently played with her Slayer's hair, "But I don't want you to be too worried about me being lonely to go out and make plenty of friends while you're at school this year alright? My new flat will be closer to where Yohko lives, so I was hoping that I'd maybe get to spend some more time with her this year."

Natsuki released her well squished Watcher so that she could grin at her cheekily, "Ooh. Now I see why you're really moving. And trying to move me out of your house too. You want to have some private time with Yohko-sensei without having to worry about me walking in on you two."

The redhead blushed, "I swear I don't know what you're talking about. And besides, if that _were_ true, wouldn't you prefer not to have to risk walking in on something embarrassing and traumatic like two old people doing things that could scar you for life to witness?"

"Hah! I'm a Slayer; it would take way more than that to faze me." She smiled to herself, feeling better about the situation now that she knew that moving into the dorms might really be good for Midori too. It made her happy to know that her Watcher might get to spend more time with friends her own age. Now that she thought about it, up until recently her Watcher had spent so much time either with Slayer training or trying to help Hirotaka with Sakuya's illness that there just wasn't much time for her to meet other people. "You should take some time to make friends too Midori."

"I'll try; it's difficult at my age though." Midori poked her Slayer's nose like she was still a little kid, "Oh, and maybe you should consider joining the kyuudo team."

"Midori... I know I suck at crossbow." Natsuki frowned at her Watcher's teasing.

The redhead just laughed, "Aaw I'm sorry Slayer. Alright, just run through the drill one more time and then go take a shower so that we can go to McDonald's alright?" Midori smiled as her Slayer grumbled a bit but went back over to grab the crossbow again. The Watcher wondered how Natsuki would react when she found out the surprise that was in store for her when she started school in a couple more weeks.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

St. Peter's High School Campus; March 30, 2000

It was midmorning when Natsuki and Midori pulled up to the St. Peter's campus in Midori's slightly less crappy than normal clunker. The faded red sedan's entire backseat was stuffed with boxes of things that Natsuki needed to have with her when she moved in. Fortunately the dorms were already furnished, so they didn't have to worry about any do it yourself carpentry projects or hiring a moving van or anything. When Midori finally found a somewhat legal spot to park the car in the packed car park they quickly got out grabbing as many boxes as they could. Both of them let out identical annoyed sighs as they realized they'd need at least a second trip; even if Natsuki was supernaturally strong she still had normal girl-sized arms.

They headed across the green lawn full of students and parents moving in towards the new looking white dorm building where Natsuki's room was. "You know Natsuki, this looks like it might even be nicer than my dorm at university. It's really amazing what money will get you huh?"

Natsuki grinned, "Yeah I gotta say, having rich people pay for all of my stuff doesn't suck."

"I wonder what your roommate is going be like." Midori pondered her eyes distant, "I remember I had this one roomie my freshman year who was completely obsessed with William Shatner."

"Heh, well I'm sure she was happy to accommodate your obsession with Harrison Ford."

"There may or may not have been some undignified nerdgirl fights over which was better StarTrek or Star Wars..."

Natsuki burst out laughing, "Oh wow, did you two do any cosplay? If you have pictures of that, I want them."

The Watcher pretended to ponder the question, "I don't know... I'll have to check to see if you have security clearance first. And besides you already know that I spent five years of my adult life constantly pretending to be Indiana Jones."

The Slayer snorted with amusement. Some kind person had propped the doors of the dorm building open with some chairs, so they were able to walk right in. "I'm on the top floor right?" Natsuki asked as she headed for the stairwell anyway.

"Where else would you be? Ugh. I'm way too old for this." Midori complained as they made their way up the stairs, though neither of them showed any signs of fatigue. "Isn't this a rich people school, where's the bloody elevator?"

Natsuki laughed, "Actually I heard one down the hall, I just figured it would be packed with all of the out of shape wusses and their stuff. Come on Midori, I know this isn't even tiring you out. You can't fool me with that 'oh I'm so old!' crap."

Midori smirked as she effortlessly shifted the weight of the boxes in her arms, "What makes you say that?" She shrugged, "It's possible that I've gotten lazy from living with rich people too long. Guess I'll have to get over that when I move into my new flat next weekend."

"Did you want my help with that?"

"If you don't have plans. Another person to move things in faster could be a big help. I've already gotten Fujikawa to agree to help me on his day off by bribing him with beer and pizza." They finally reached the top landing, Midori only slightly out of breath. She watched with amusement as the Slayer shifted the tower of boxes in her arms to one hand so that she could pull the door to the hallway open. "What was your room number again?"

"Eh? Um..." Natsuki tried to shift the boxes again so she could look at the number written on the back of her hand, almost dropping them in the process. She glared at her Watcher when she laughed. "530."

"Well damn, looks like you lucked out Natsuki, that's a corner room." Midori said, pointing to the appropriately labelled door down the hall.

"Sweet." Natsuki agreed as she fished the key that she'd picked up at the housing office out of her pocket. She shouldered the door open only to see an empty room. "Huh, I guess my roommate isn't here yet." She glanced around the room slightly disappointed to find it empty, but she couldn't help but be impressed by how nice everything was. It was more of a suite than a room even, with a small kitchen and enough floor space for maybe some chairs and a television as well as the two single beds and computer desks that were already present. She also noticed a short hall that lead to the toilet and bath. One of the walls of the main room was dominated by a huge window that looked out over the campus, giving her a good view of the surrounding mountains.

Midori gave a low whistle as she came up behind Natsuki after putting her boxes down. "You know if my flat is half this nice, I'll think I got a great deal for the rent price. You know what? Forget you coming to visit me, I'm gonna pack my toothbrush and sleeping bag and come hang out at your place on the weekends. Did you see how enormous the bath is? Damn." Midori sighed enviously.

Natsuki laughed, "Sure, we can have a weekly videogame night or something once I get a television set up in here."

Later that afternoon they were finally finished setting up most of Natsuki's belongings in the room. Her weapons were in a special case under her bed. Technically bladed weapons were grounds for disciplinary action, but Hirotaka had worked some miracle of b.s., or maybe simple bribery, to convince the administration that Natsuki needed to have her weapons with her for religious reasons. The administration had reluctantly agreed, but if she even looked like she was going to injure any students, Hirotaka would be parting with large sums of yen before he could even say "lawyer".

Natsuki sighed as she stood in the doorway with her Watcher. Her roommate still hadn't showed up yet. Tomorrow was still a move-in day so it was possible that she would just be alone on her first night. Midori too seemed a little reluctant to leave and go back to her house on the empty Fujino estate. She glanced over and saw a suspiciously misty look in her Watcher's hazel eyes, "Oh no Midori don't start that."

Midori kept her British reserve and just gave her a grin, not acknowledging the hint of tears in her eyes, "But Natsuki I'm so proud of you, all grown up and in senior high school now."

"Meh, quit with your pretending to be so old routine. Anyway I wouldn't be here without you." Natsuki shrugged, trying her best to not let her sentimental emotions show too much either. "I'll see you again next weekend I guess... when I help you move in to your apartment?"

Midori nodded, "But if you need help with research or anything like that before then, you know how to get in touch with me." The redhead had a mischievous smirk as she continued, "Anyway I'll be heading off now. You enjoy your first week at school alright?"

"Yeah I will." Natsuki pulled her Watcher into an enthusiastic hug, forgetting about being the tough Slayer for a moment, "I'll miss you."

"Aaw Slayer it's only for a week." Midori teased, but returned the hug just the same. "Alright, I really gotta go. See you soon Natsuki."

It was almost dinnertime but Natsuki was still in her room setting up the new desktop computer that Hirotaka had bought for her first year. She was super excited to try out the internet here since she had never used a T1 connection before and it was supposed to be amazingly fast. She was just plugging the speakers into the computer tower when she heard a frantic knocking at her door. Natsuki grinned excitedly before walking over and opening the door with false casualness. There standing in the hallway was a rather flustered looking girl with chin length orange hair, wearing what seemed to be a dripping wet school uniform. Natsuki desperately tried not to notice that the white dress shirts were see-through when wet, or that the girl seemed to have impressively enormous breasts.

"Uh... Hi." She managed to croak out, blushing slightly.

"Hello," The girl replied, her voice heavy with fatigue, "I guess I'm your roommate. I'm Tokiha Mai; it's nice to meet you."

"Kuga Natsuki." The Slayer replied stiffly, "Uh, did you need any help with your things?" Natsuki didn't wait for the tired girl to reply, instead stepping out into the hall and easily picking up the stack of boxes that Mai had rested against the wall. "Um... Since you weren't here I already picked out a side of the room. If you really care though, I don't mind switching." She explained as she carried the boxes inside.

"No that's fine, it doesn't matter to me. Thank you _so_ much for helping me. I still have boxes downstairs too if you wouldn't mind helping..." The orange haired girl trailed off, obviously feeling awkward about imposing on her new roommate that she hardly knew.

"I don't mind at all Tokiha-san. And besides I got moved in earlier today so I've had some time to rest up. Is it raining outside now?" She glanced out the darkened window, surprised at not having heard it start.

"Just Mai please, we're going to be roommates after all." The orange haired girl replied, smiling at Natsuki's nod and similar offer. "Anyway, no it's not raining; some jerk ran up to me and pushed me into the fountain! I really wasn't expecting for there to be people like that around here. He was making some disgustingly rude comment about how I looked tasty but then a group of people came by and he ran off." Mai glanced down at her wet uniform clearly aggravated, "Ugh, do you mind if I get changed first before we head down and get my boxes?"

Natsuki shook her head, "Actually if all of your boxes are labelled with your name like these are, I can head down and start grabbing some now." She offered, actually intending to go find the vampire that had attacked Mai. "Why don't you go try out the bath to relax and get warmed up alright? It's really no big deal for me to get your boxes for you."

Mai looked up at her roommate, a pathetically grateful look in her unusual grey-blue eyes, "Thank you so much Natsuki-chan! I'll hurry up with my bath though so that we can go get some dinner, unless you've eaten already?" Natsuki shook her head. "Anyway normally I prefer to fix my own food because it saves money, but I'm just too tired for that tonight and really don't have the energy to stop by the supermarket or something."

"Hey no problem. You go ahead and get warmed up; I'll be back up here in a little bit." Natsuki offered her roommate a friendly wave as she headed out the door.

The Slayer growled softly to herself as she ran down the stairs, taking them three at a time. She hated to admit that she was surprised to hear about vampires on the campus, but really who could blame her? You wouldn't think that rich people would send their heirs to a school where they were likely to be eaten. She tightened her dark grey hoodie around herself as she kicked open the door to the dorm, wondering where the vamps liked to hang out around here. She decided to do a quick sweep of the dark areas around the dorms and the main dining hall.

There were still plenty of people around either still moving into the dorms or heading for the dining hall, so Natsuki stretched out her hunter instincts to try and locate any vampires. She soon found two vampires cornering a handsome young man and a petite brunette who seemed to be his girlfriend near the back entrance of the boys' dorm. The young man was standing protectively in front of his girlfriend trying to shield her from the two vampires, but Natsuki could tell just by looking that he wasn't really a fighter, just brave. "Oi you, what are you doing to them! Get lost or I'll get campus security!" She called out to the vampires from a darkened area behind the dumpster, hoping to lure the vamps away from the witnesses.

The larger vampire laughed clearly amused with the situation, "Hah, sure we'll leave them alone if you say so. We'll just spend some time with you instead!" He grinned at his hunting pal before they sauntered over to where Natsuki was hiding.

The Slayer tried not to laugh out loud before the vampires had wandered fully out of the line of sight of the two shaken students. She let out a wicked grin, bracing herself against the sharp pain as she extended her boneclaws and prepared for a little fight, feeling a bit disappointed that she would have to end it as quickly as possible to avoid witnesses. "I really can't believe the nerve of you vamps hunting on _my_ campus."

Mild surprise showed in the vampires' yellow eyes when she knew what they were, but then they just laughed again, "_Your_ campus. I don't know what gave you that idea little girl, we're in charge here." The larger vampire wasted no more time in charging towards her, obviously intending to overpower her. Neither vampire had noticed the Slayer's natural weapons.

The hulking vampire let out a surprised gurgle when he suddenly had the claws of Natsuki's left hand impaling his windpipe. The Slayer grinned ferally; her sharp canines glinting as she viciously twisted her claws, neatly severing his skull from his backbone. Moments later he was dust, and his smaller companion was staring at her with wide, fearful yellow eyes. "Do the two of you work alone?" She asked.

The small vampire nodded nervously, running a hand through his short messy black hair, "Yeah. He was my Sire."

Natsuki nodded grinning, watching with amusement as his yellow eyes widened further with fear when he realized what he had admitted to. She gestured vaguely at him, "Well, are you going to try and fight me or are you going to run away?" She laughed as the skinny vampire tried to turn and make a run for it. He almost managed to make it around the side of the building before she had pounced on his back, and then he was dust on the night breeze just like his Sire.

A few moments after the dust from the second vampire settled the young couple cautiously rounded the corner. "Hello? Is everything okay back here?" The young man called in a nervous voice. When his warm brown eyes landed on Natsuki he let out a relieved sigh, "Oh thank goodness you're alright. Where did those punks go?" He asked angrily; suddenly full of fight now that the two unnaturally strong men were nowhere to be seen. "And what was wrong with their faces? Did you two notice that?"

Natsuki smiled at the young man's suddenly discovered bravado, shoving her hands into the pockets of her shirt so that the young couple wouldn't notice her bloodied knuckles, trying to be inconspicuous about wiping the worst of the blood off. "Yeah, they ran off when I told them how much my guardian would sue them if anything happened to me." She lied with practiced ease.

"That was really brave of you to stand up to them like that." The petite girl said shyly, "Nothing we said would make them go away; I was really frightened for Kazu-kun and myself."

"Ssh Akane, I wouldn't have let those punks hurt you." The handsome young man assured his girlfriend, wrapping strong arms around her in a gentle hug. Akane just looked up at her boyfriend with a love-struck expression on her face. Natsuki couldn't decide if they were cute or disgusting.

"Um, so you two go to school here yeah?" Natsuki asked the obvious question.

"Oh yeah, sorry for being rude. I'm Kurauchi Kazuya, and this is my girlfriend Higurashi Akane. We're both second years here." He said politely, still hugging Akane. In fact he barely took his eyes off hers long enough to introduce himself.

"Kuga Natsuki." She replied with a slight laugh, "I'll leave you two to your time together; I was just taking a walk around campus to familiarize myself with the place since it's my first year. Nice meeting you two, stay safe. Be careful being outside late like this, there's obviously some crazies around here." She gave the affectionate couple a slight wave that neither of them noticed before heading back to the girls' dorm, deciding she'd done a good enough patrol for now. Besides, she had to get Mai's boxes upstairs before her roommate decided she'd skipped out on her without actually helping.

Returning to the dorm she easily located Mai's boxes by the entrance to the stairwell, labelled with her name and various girly stickers. It only took the Slayer two trips to carry the remaining boxes upstairs, nodding politely to those she passed on the way. She was just setting the last of the boxes on the floor next to Mai's bed when the orange haired girl emerged from the bath with still damp hair, wearing a pink and white tracksuit. "Feeling better?"

"Much better! Really thank you so much for helping me Natsuki-chan."

Natsuki smiled blushing slightly, "It was no big deal really. You didn't have too many boxes."

Mai raised an eyebrow sceptically, "If you say so. Did you want to head to the dining hall now? I'm starving. It's been such a long day."

The Slayer blushed redder as her stomach growled, "Uh yeah... obviously carrying all those boxes made me hungry too."

Mai laughed grabbing her roommate's arm and pulling her towards the door, "Alright Natsuki-chan let's go."

After they reached the dining hall and picked up their food, they were looking for a table to sit at when they heard someone calling out rather loudly, "Oi! Natsuki-kun! Over here!"

Natsuki winced and looked in the direction of the yell to see Chie waving at her with a ridiculous grin on her face. Seeing that some of her other friends were also sitting at the table, Natsuki decided to take Mai over and introduce her. "Who's the hottie?" Chie asked once Mai and Natsuki had reached the table, wincing when Aoi cuffed her upside the head. The other two at the table just laughed, used to Chie's antics.

Natsuki rolled her eyes, "This is Tokiha Mai, my roommate. Who may have decided that she wants to see the main office for a new room now that she knows the sort of freaks I associate with."

"Nice to meet you Tokiha-san. I'm Sakamoto Kenji. Just call me Kenji, everyone else does." Kenji spoke softly from his spot next to Yukino. He had grown much taller over the last couple of years, and was now the tallest of any of Natsuki's male friends other than Reito. He was still rather skinny though, despite regularly eating more food than even the Slayer did.

"Nice to meet you Kenji-san." Mai greeted sweetly, sitting down in the chair Natsuki had pulled up to the table for her.

"Kikukawa Yukino, nice to meet you Tokiha-san."

"Senou Aoi, and this rude person sitting next to me is Harada Chie." Aoi greeted, shifting her soft blue eyes to look affectionately at Chie.

Mai smiled, "It's really great to meet all of you. I'm new to the area; so I think I was really lucky to get Natsuki-chan as my roommate."

Chie grinned mischievously, her light brown eyes sparkling behind her glasses, "The other girls of St. Peter's High wish they could be so lucky as to have Natsuki-kun as their roommate." Natsuki paused in putting mayo on her cheeseburger so she could glare at Chie, but didn't comment. Mai giggled at their interactions, already enjoying her time with the strange group of friends. Not at all fazed by Natsuki's glare, Chie turned back to Mai, "So Tokiha-san, what brings you to our fair high school? You a first year too like little Natsuki-kun? Kenji-kun and Yukino-chan are both first years as well. Me and Aoi are second years though, you can tell by how mature we are." Kenji tried unsuccessfully to cover his laugh at that.

"Yes, it's my first year of senior high as well. I got one of the scholarships that they hand out for students with less than ideal family situations; I could never have afforded to attend without it." Mai replied, looking down at her salad uncomfortably.

Chie proved that she did know how to be tactful after all by not prying, instead she shifted the conversation to what Kenji and Yukino had planned for the school newspaper this year. Chie wanted to be a photographer for the paper since the boy who did all the photos for it last year had graduated. Natsuki glanced at her roommate, wondering what had happened to cause the sad and worried look in her eyes and hoped that there was something she could do to help.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

The next day found Mai and Natsuki at the supermarket getting groceries so that they wouldn't have to be eating at the dining hall every day. Natsuki realized just how much she had gotten used to the Fujinos' endless money when Mai pointed out how expensive the food there was and Natsuki was forced to admit she hadn't noticed. Mai shrugged, "I guess it's probably no big deal for most of the people who go to our school, but I've already been looking for a part-time job to cover expenses that aren't paid for with my scholarship."

Natsuki shook her head feeling a bit ashamed of herself, "No I understand, it's just been a while since I've had to worry about that. I think it's a good thing to get in the habit of it though. Saving money I mean."

"Well I'm not just doing this to save money either, I really love to cook. I'll really miss getting to cook for my little brother." Mai said sadly as she checked the carton of eggs for cracked ones before putting it in the cart.

"Is this your first time being away from him?" Natsuki asked sympathetically following after Mai with the cart. Not being much of a cook herself, the Slayer was more than happy to let her roommate take the lead. Her only contribution so far had been making sure they had mayo. Mai had looked a bit grossed out at the large jar of it but had just shrugged it off as a quirk of her otherwise polite roommate.

"It's not just that, he's in America for the next six months or so with our uncle so that he can get surgery for this heart condition he has." Mai explained as she grabbed some beef and pork cuts to put on the cart, much to Natsuki's delight. Mai raised her eyebrow at her roommate when she heard her stomach growl causing Natsuki to blush. "Didn't you just eat that half a cow sized burger right before we came here?"

Natsuki shrugged helplessly, "Is your brother going to be okay?"

Mai nodded, "They think so; it's just that the procedure is going to be really expensive so everyone in my family has been cutting back so we can afford it you know?" She sighed, "It's been hard enough since our mom died when we were little."

_Must all of my friends lose their mothers?_ Natsuki watched her friend with sad eyes, "I'm sorry about your mom." She said softly, even though that seemed like a horribly lame thing to say. She knew it always sounded lame when people said it to her, but what else could she say? Certainly not nothing.

"Thanks Natsuki." Mai shrugged, "I still miss her, but it has gotten easier with time. I'm just so glad that Takumi was able to get this procedure done in time you know? I don't know what I'd do if I lost him too. He's my little brother; I had promised my mom that I'd look after him for her."

"I can tell that you've done a great job so far." Natsuki grinned at her friend; somehow she just seemed like a mom. "You just give off the vibe of someone who's really great at taking care of others you know?"

Green eyes sparkled as Mai blushed, "Um... do you like the flavoured soy milk or plain?" Natsuki shrugged and Mai grabbed a carton of plain. "So how did you end up going to St. Peter's? If you don't mind my saying you don't seem like the other rich kids."

Natsuki laughed, "I'll take that as a compliment. Naah, my guardian works for this rich guy and he's paying my tuition."

Both of Mai's eyebrows shot up in surprise, "Really that seems pretty unusual?"

"Eh... well it's a bit more complicated than that. See, him and my guardian's dad were old friends. I guess officially we were personal trainers for his daughter in their family's traditional naginatajutsu, but unofficially he's looking after his old friend's kid or something? And their family is just that ridiculously rich that they don't even realize that sending me to this school is a big deal." She explained blushing slightly, "Actually until this month we'd lived with them for years. Next weekend I'm supposed to be helping her move into a new apartment."

"I think we've gotten everything we need." Mai said indicating that they could head for the checkout. "Did you two need any extra help? I wouldn't mind."

Natsuki grinned, "If you want to come with that would be great. I won't make you do a bunch of heavy lifting or anything, but I know that Midori would love to meet my roommate."

"Thanks. Maybe I'll make brownies or something as a housewarming gift."

"Only if I can have some. We can all have pizza and watch movies with Fujikawa-kun too after we're done."

"Fujikawa-kun? Is that her boyfriend?" Mai asked as they pulled into the checkout line. There was only one person in front of them, a middle aged mother with a little boy who looked to be about six. Natsuki laughed when he blushed shyly at Mai and waved at her.

"You certainly do get a lot of admirers." Natsuki teased her roommate, who gave her a playful glare before waving back at the little kid. "And no he's not her boyfriend, though I'm going to tease both of them about it now that you said that. He's this doctor who works at one of the hospitals in the city. It sounds weird, but Midori and I got to know him and his boss many years ago so we all hang out on occasion. He used to actually be poor when we first met him since he was just a resident, but even now that he's making the big bucks as a real doctor, Midori still bribes him into helping her move all of her stuff with beer and pizza." Natsuki explained with a laugh.

"You two seem really close."

"We are. I mean, she's not my mom or anything like that... I guess she's more of a favourite teacher? But that doesn't really describe what she is to me either. I know I'm really lucky to have her though." Natsuki shrugged, unable to adequately explain what her Watcher was to her to someone who didn't know she was a Slayer.

Mai nodded, taking in what Natsuki wasn't saying about her mother as well. "I can't wait to meet her, she sounds great."

Natsuki blushed, "Yeah. I miss seeing her everyday already. I'm glad I got you for a roommate, I don't know how I would've reacted if I'd ended up with someone I couldn't stand."

"Yeah I'm really glad I ended up with someone normal too." Mai smiled sweetly at Natsuki, who pretended to be suddenly preoccupied with putting the groceries up for the cashier to checkout as she tried desperately to not look guilty. _Perfectly normal, that's me alright._


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: The following contains characters that are most unfortunately not mine.

((Author's note: Thanks for the excellent feedback on the first two chapters! Really gets the motivation going to write more quicker! ^^ ))

Later that night Natsuki woke with a start from a particularly violent dream, the details of which were rapidly fading. She hoped that meant it was just a nightmare and not a dream that was trying to tell her something important about how to save the world from certain doom. Midori had always tried to assure her that in every Watcher diary it said that prophetic Slayer dreams were always easy to remember after waking, but Natsuki couldn't help but feel just a little paranoid about the whole thing. _But is it really being paranoid if you know that there probably _is_ some crazy demon or something out there with delusions of ushering in the apocalypse?_

Natsuki smiled to herself when she glanced over to see Mai still sleeping soundly. Then she blushed when her nightvision registered that Mai had thrown off most of her covers and was sprawled on her back with her pyjama top open enough to reveal a truly impressive amount of cleavage. _And I thought Midori's were big. Those are..._ Natsuki shook her head to try and dispel the confusing thoughts she was having, turning to gaze out the window instead, enjoying the view of the moonlit campus. Now that she was free from the confusing haze of hormones, she recognized the urgent feeling of needing to be _elsewhere._ She sighed; this was one of the more annoying things about her Slayer instincts sometimes. Somehow she knew that she needed to be somewhere to do something, but until she got there she wouldn't know where exactly she needed to be or what she would be doing when she got there. _Though it's normally a safe bet to assume I'll need weapons._

Growling softly at the green letters of the digital clock blinking 1:37, Natsuki reluctantly got out of her warm comfortable bed. _I just fell asleep barely an hour ago. Sometimes being a Slayer really sucks._ Moving quietly so as not to disturb Mai's rest, Natsuki went to the drawer where she'd put her slaying gear, which these days consisted mostly of black leather, minus the fitted t-shirt with the X-men logo on the front. She figured she might as well cover up her secret Slayer identity with an even more ridiculous explanation. Walking back over to her bed she lay down beside it and carefully pulled out the heavy black wooden trunk with her weapons in it. Easing open the lid she removed her katana and wakizashi, sheathed to be worn strapped to her back so that they wouldn't get in the way while on her bike.

She slid the trunk back under her bed, carrying the weapons with her to their small kitchen. She had to leave Mai a note with a suitable excuse in case her roommate woke up in the middle of the night and she wasn't back yet. Mai was a great roommate in a lot of ways, but her intensely caring nature made her nosy about things.

_Mai-_

_ I couldn't sleep so I decided to go take a walk. Don't worry I brought my cellphone so I'll be able to call if I get into trouble or anything. _

_ -Natsuki_

Natsuki wasn't completely opposed to eventually telling Mai that she was a Slayer, but she preferred to still try as hard as she could to keep it a secret. If Mai continued to try and figure out exactly what was up with Natsuki, she would know that Mai genuinely wanted an explanation. Some people just preferred to accept her cover story even if they saw evidence to the contrary, and Natsuki liked to give them the option.

Walking to the door, she stomped into her heavy black boots and put on her three-quarter length black leather coat. Over the years she found that leather offered good protection against minor scrapes and burns that one could pick up while slaying, much like it was commonly used as light armour by motorcyclists. Double checking her pockets for her keys for her bike and the room, she glanced over once more smiling at her peacefully sleeping roommate. "Sweet dreams Mai." She murmured before quietly grabbing her helmet and heading out.

Natsuki grinned behind her helmet's visor as she fired up her motorcycle. It wasn't her dream bike or anything, but even owning the little midnight blue 250cc Kawasaki Ninja was a bit illegal for someone her age, so she figured it was plenty good enough for now. She couldn't believe her eyes when Midori had handed her the fake license for the thing a week ago, stating that she wanted to make sure Natsuki was able to get somewhere fast if she needed to. When she'd questioned Midori about it the Watcher had just shrugged and said that she wanted her Slayer to have every advantage, even if it meant bending human laws a little when necessary.

Twenty minutes later she was confused to find herself riding her bike down a poorly maintained dirt road, surrounded by thick forest on both sides. The sound of her bike's engine seemed deafening compared to the eerie silence here. After ten more minutes of carefully navigating around huge holes in the frighteningly bad road, she came upon what seemed to be a monastery. At least she assumed it was a monastery, because it was a secluded building that was definitely not a house and based on the traditional architecture it just seemed religious... Though looking around she couldn't see any symbols that would indicate what religion any monks living here followed.

It was a rather small dark wooden building, surrounded by grey stone statuary of mystical creatures that she couldn't identify and decorated with ornate designs made from a curious looking pale green metal. She let out a resigned sigh when she noticed the first body, a bald middle aged man in a nondescript brown robe. She tensed as she examined the gaping wound in his chest; blood was still flowing out of it. He had been killed recently, which meant whatever did the killing could still be nearby. She heard a startled shout and a crash inside the building and took off at a run towards the disturbance.

Climbing the short staircase she had to step over two more bodies, so when she reached the main door she was surprised to find that it was still shut and locked. A hard kick easily broke the deadbolt, sending the door crashing open off its hinges. Up the stairs she could hear a strangely harmonious feminine voice questioning someone, but no replies. Easily deducing that the one talking was also the attacker, Natsuki made her way up the stairs. Stepping over more bodies as she went, the Slayer noticed what seemed to be bite marks of some kind on the exposed legs of some of the victims, though she couldn't for the life of her think of any animal or demon with a mouth the right shape to make them. When she reached the top of the stairs and could see down the hall, it took Natsuki a few moments to comprehend what she was seeing, but when she did she felt her stomach knot with a combination of fear and revulsion.

Looming large in the hallway was a demon unlike any Natsuki had seen before, nearly as tall as the ceiling. It was a chimera of sorts, an unclothed and rotting woman's torso with viciously clawed graspers for hands attached to a spider's body. Except that it wasn't a spider's body; it was more a bag of human-skinned guts and blood shaped to look like a spider, with eight human legs branching off from it. At its many feet there were at least a dozen meter-long centipedes. Their dark carapaces were almost beautiful, coloured like tiger-eye they glinted in the faint torchlight of the hallway, the sound of their many legs clicking on the floor echoed against the bare walls. Even more horrifying, where the monstrosity's head should be, there was instead what seemed to be a flesh-coloured giant squid. Its long muscular tentacles fanned out from around its mouth and large unblinking orange eyes were focused on the monk it was questioning. One strong tentacle was wrapped carefully around the monk's neck, while several of the centipedes were biting into the flesh on his legs, using their strong jaws dripping with a viscous black fluid to hold him in place. When it spoke again she heard the reason for its strange harmonious voice, as it had two insect-like mandibles inside of the mass of tentacles.

"We won't ask you again. Tell us where we can find the ancient glow or you will die like the others." Natsuki could almost feel the demon's voice vibrating the air as it spoke, and couldn't help but shiver as she attempted to draw her katana silently, wincing when the demon turned its large head to face her. "Aah, it seems there is an intruder. Keep him still while we deal with this one." It ordered the centipedes and more of them immediately began climbing up the monk's robed body, biting down. Natsuki was truly impressed that the monk had not cried out, and briefly worried that the demon might have accidentally killed him already while interrogating him.

"We don't suppose the thug would know where the ancient glow is?" The demon questioned politely as it drew close, laughing lowly when Natsuki just snarled at it. "My, my... no one in this place has been any help to us at all. Master is unlikely to feed us when we return home. So lucky are we that there is plenty of meat here to feed our pets and we."

Natsuki yelled out in pain as an unexpectedly long tentacle suddenly lashed out to wrap around her sword arm, sharp teethed suction cups on the underside easily slicing through her jacket and into her flesh. She gritted her teeth as she extended her claws. She quickly punched her left fist at the tentacle that was gripping her. The metal tips of her boneclaws sliced easily through the boneless appendage, but even after it was severed it from its owner but the tentacle still remained firmly embedded in her arm. Ignoring the pain now that her movement was no longer restricted, she attempted to dance around to the side of the large creature, trying to get out of reach of its tentacles while the air around her throbbed with the demon's angered cries. The sharp teeth from another tentacle sliced deeply into her left cheek, and she could feel her warm blood dripping down the side of her face and neck.

She quickly drew her wakizashi, slashing it in quick strokes on her left side to discourage the demon from attempting to attack her there again as she simultaneously brought her katana down in a forceful cut into a nearby human knee. With so many legs taking out just one hardly disabled the creature, and it suddenly leapt back down the hall several feet, preventing Natsuki from being able to completely get around back of the sharp tentacles and strong humanoid arms. The bloodied warriors faced off again, more cautious this time.

"What is this creature that fights us, that it is so strong? This glow we seeks, it must be nearby if there is a Champion to defend it." The demon cackled and Natsuki could hear the softer chittering of the centipedes behind it at the words, she wondered idly just how smart they were. Unseen by Natsuki, one of the huge centipedes broke off from the group, clattering quickly down the hall away from the fighters before exiting out an open window. "We could tell by the markings on this temple that it housed guardians of the ancient glow, Master will be pleased with this news."

Natsuki growled, realizing suddenly that her mere presence here might have just made a bad situation even worse. She hadn't gotten here in time to save most of the monks from being massacred, and now it seemed this demon thought that its methods had been more than effective. _But if I can just kill it now it has nothing._ The Slayer adjusted her grip on her swords' hilts, looking in her peripheral vision for an opening with renewed determination, though her eyes remained locked on the demon's, her expression hard and unreadable.

Without warning she charged in quickly, her katana raised high for an overhand cut at the frantically waving tentacles. She sliced down hard, ignoring the pain in her arms and sides as teeth from the tentacles and the long sharp claws on the creature's hands cut into her. Ducking inside its guard she stabbed hard and fast with her wakizashi, driving the shorter blade deep into the creature's soft belly and slicing down firmly. She grinned as the huge gash that opened spilled steaming greyish and strangely bloodless entrails onto the ground to join the few still writhing tentacles that she had hacked off with her katana.

Keeping her momentum, she charged behind the creature as it staggered from her strong assault, leaping onto its monstrous back. For a brief moment Natsuki allowed herself to be grossed out by the pulsating mass of blood and guts that she could see through the nearly transparent skin, before bringing her katana up to make a strong sideways swipe at the creature's thick neck. The demon let out an ear-splitting scream and fell to the ground, causing Natsuki's katana to become stuck in the thick neck vertebrae. Before she could cut all the way through she had lost her balance. Desperately she clung to the hilts of her swords, stabbing down into the pulsating abdomen below her with her boneclaws to stop herself from falling beneath the huge demon.

She winced at the sting of the putrid demon blood seeping into the wounds at the base of her boneclaws as she struggled to get her feet back up under her so that she could stand. Pulling out the claws from her wakizashi hand she swiftly stabbed the short sword down into the pulsating bag of guts, hoping to weaken the demon enough that it would stop thrashing about so much. Leaving the short blade embedded in the demon's back, she used her free hand to push herself up before taking her katana into a two-handed grip and this time easily slicing through the demon's thick neck, sending the monstrous head tumbling to the floor with a splat. As the demon fell she reached down and yanked out her short sword, leaping from its back onto the slippery blood-soaked hardwood floor.

Not wasting any time, she turned and headed up the hallway to start trying to remove the many centipedes from the monk who was lying on the floor, only to cry out when he suddenly drew a wickedly curved knife from inside his robes and stabbed the blade deeply into his own gut. Natsuki paused mid kick to a giant centipede's head to stare at him, "Wh-why?" The monk looked up at her, his dark brown eyes not revealing that he was in any pain, even though he was obviously dying now.

"If I live," He spoke weakly, but without any tremble in his voice, "I will only endanger that which my order was formed to protect. We have other plans in place to keep it from hands that will misuse it, but they cannot be implemented yet. I cannot allow myself to live if it will endanger our cause."

"What could possibly be so important?" Natsuki demanded angrily, "What could be worth taking your own life like this?"

The monk actually chuckled lightly and shook his head, "It is too dangerous for me to tell you the nature of what we protect. If it is known too soon, all will be in peril."

Natsuki kneeled down in front of him, glaring into his dark eyes, "That's not good enough. That demon obviously knew what it was after. How can I prevent them from getting it if I don't even know what you all are protecting?"

He gave her a smile, "Lie to them. It obviously thought you to be our Champion, and that you are the chief guardian of what they seek."

"You may have missed it from here, but I killed that demon. It won't be telling anyone anything."

He shook his head, coughing a bit as he tried to speak, "No... it sent one of its messengers while you were still fighting." He said, indicating one of the centipedes gnawing at the gaping wound in his stomach with a nod of his head.

"Is that all I need to know?" Natsuki asked, raising her wakizashi to his eyelevel. At his tired nod she swiftly slit his throat, ending his suffering. She closed her eyes for a moment as she absorbed the sharp pain in her chest she felt at taking a human life, even as an act of mercy. After a moment she opened her eyes again at the continued sound of the large centipedes feasting on the monk's body, angrily she brought down the boneclaws of her right fist into a large armoured head. She grinned at the satisfying crunch of its exoskeleton, even as its hot blood stung her cuts.

Green eyes took in the blood soaked hallway, her stomach turning at the smell of the flesh demon's putrid entrails now that she was no longer distracted enough to ignore. It smelled like something that had been dead and rotting for days. Reaching up with a bloody hand she gently closed the monk's eyes, though she couldn't say that he looked anymore peaceful, what with the centipedes still eating him. Suddenly a large armoured jaw clamped down onto her calf muscle through her leather pants. Letting out a angered yell, the Slayer made quick work of the huge bugs with her blades but the sight of their sliced up monstrous bodies littering the hallway didn't make her feel much better.

Feeling a sharp pain in her arm she looked down to see the large grey tentacle with its sharp teeth still embedded in her flesh. With a grimace she grabbed the end and with a swift yank and a small sound of pain she was able to rip it off, a fresh flow of blood oozing from the many small, circular wounds visible through her shredded coat sleeve. Throwing the disgusting appendage against a wall Natsuki let out a loud, frustrated growl. _Ugh, I so just want to go home._

Still, Natsuki knew how these things worked. She couldn't go home yet, not until she had searched the area for anything that might help Midori with her research. Because if there was ever a situation that called for some serious research; it was this one. She scanned the hallway for any indication of where the monks may have kept anything important, listening carefully for any sounds of movement in the now deathly quiet monastery. This floor seemed to contain only bedrooms, and none of them appeared to have any possessions of note, not even a diary. She headed back down to the first floor, stepping carefully to avoid the scattered bodies of the monks, hardening her spirit against feeling sympathy for them that she couldn't afford right now.

Carefully searching the first floor, she finally found what she was looking for, a trapdoor hidden under a large white stone idol of a tall slender goddess covered in leafy vines of a plant Natsuki didn't recognize. The Slayer had realized after years of investigating various vampire and demon layers, that important things would normally be kept in either the attic or the basement. She only hoped that monks had similar habits. Ripping the trapdoor off of its hinges to avoid being locked in, Natsuki simply jumped down to the lower level bypassing the rickety looking ladder altogether, wincing as her hard landing jarred her wounds. Natsuki hadn't seen any signs of electric lighting in the old monastery so she was relieved to find a wooden shelf full of handheld oil lamps along with matches. Lighting one she headed slowly down the dark corridor, noticing immediately that the long passage must extend out further than the area of the building above.

Natsuki followed the narrow limestone passage through many twists and turns, never seeing any doors or branches off of the main path that seemed to twist on endlessly in a labyrinthine manner. The tired and bloody Slayer also noticed with some apprehension that the passage was steadily heading further underground as it went onward. She had been walking carefully along the path for what seemed like thirty minutes or so, not noticing much change other than that the path seemed to be ascending again. She was considering giving up and heading back to the monastery when she heard the sound of trickling water up ahead and concluded she must be reaching the end of the passageway. As she rounded the last bend she saw that there was a soft white light coming from up ahead, and when she finally stepped into the large underground chamber she let out a surprised gasp.

It was a huge limestone cave, the ceiling extended up probably forty meters to a huge opening to the still dark night sky. There was a shallow pool of water that covered half of the large underground chamber, and in its centre directly under the natural skylight grew a single willow tree; its new spring leaves a vibrant green in the pale light that illuminated the chamber. What made her gasp though was the source of that light; countless tiny floating balls of energy were each emitting a faint pure white light. The tree, while not particularly large seemed very old, knotted and branched in many places with some of its roots jutting up through the soft limestone of the cave floor. It was a wonder that the tree had managed to grow down here at all.

The chamber was clearly full of magical energy, though she couldn't determine the source at first. The little balls of light seemed to be alive as they floated about aimlessly. Searching the underground room, she could see only the lights and the tree here, not any hidden magical artefact or weapon. Still it was quite beautiful and Natsuki could see why they were protecting it, even if areas of great mystical energy like this couldn't be misused. Feeling a pull in her Slayer senses Natsuki approached the little willow tree, the slight splashing of her boots in the shallow pool echoing softly through the chamber. Reaching the tree, she placed a cautious hand on the soft, ridged bark and gasped at the sudden inflow of warm magic energy.

At first she thought that she was going to pass out from the shock of magic, the edges of her vision swam with a strange green light and she felt a burn in the wounds inflicted by the demon. She shook her head to clear it and tried to remove her hand from the tree, but it seemed to be fused to the bark. Natsuki tried to calm the panic in her when she felt her body obeying the magic compulsion to place her other hand on the tree. As soon as the fingers from her other hand touched the warm bark it was like an electric circuit had been completed. The power of the magical energy flowing through her body increased exponentially, causing the Slayer to gasp at the sensation that was at once immensely pleasurable and terrifying.

She felt her body being slowly lifted into the air, her fingertips trailing upward along the bark until she was suspended three meters above the ground, completely shrouded by the softly drooping branches of the tree. As she hovered there panting from the intense sensations, her heart pounding in fear, she suddenly felt the presence of _another_ in her mind. Like the magic itself, the touch felt both amazingly wonderful and terrifying. _You are the new Champion that has been Chosen by the Lost Old One. _ The _other_ spoke into her mind. Unlike Duran's voice, Natsuki couldn't identify if the tone the being would speak in would be male or female, it had no sound at all. It was just a soft green light that existed in her mind and somehow formed words. It didn't feel good or evil like most supernatural beings the Slayer could sense; rather it seemed almost... human.

'Are you the thing the monks wanted to protect?' She tried to think loudly in her mind, unable to move her body even to speak.

_Yes. I am not here; this tree is simply a conduit that I can communicate through. The Lost Old One's Champion however must convince the enemies of light that I am physically under her protection. _

'Physically under my protection?'

_Instead of just my projection, the Champion must convince the dark ones that she knows my true location. The Champion will act to draw their attention here, so that others making preparations for my protection elsewhere can act unimpeded._

'So you want me to act like I have something that these demons want so that they'll all attack me instead of looking somewhere else for you?'

_Precisely. My other followers in this land and the ones nearby are also undertaking this task. I only ask that the Champion help them, because she was there to witness the destruction brought to my followers tonight. They are all sworn to protect me with their lives... but it is my wish that not all of them be called to make that sacrifice. I thought that perhaps the Lost Old One's Champion could save some of them. I would not ask for protection at all, except that I am something that cannot be destroyed, only used to destroy others._

'You're the one who sent me the dream tonight and called me here.' Natsuki realized suddenly, 'I remember now, the soft green light at the beginning of my dream... before all the blood.' She felt a pang of guilt, 'I'm sorry I was too late.'

_I do not fault the Champion. I myself only learned of the intent of the Dark One's servants moments before sending the Champion my desperate plea. I have given you the memories of the other nearby locations of my followers, and hope to have more warning in the future. As it was, you did well to arrive in time to send one of the messengers back to its master with false information._

'Why a willow tree?' Natsuki questioned.

The other's tone glowed brighter in Natsuki's mind, _I don't have the exact future knowledge required to answer the Champion's question. I only know that the willow makes me feel warm. It is quite amazing how it grows here, even though it has fallen so far into the dark._

'What about all of the little lights?'

The voice dimmed, its light almost too faint in Natsuki's mind to be heard, _They are beautiful aren't they? They are here coaxing the little tree to grow stronger, but they are fleeting. The Champion was lucky to be here at the right time to see them at all. A few more cycles of the seasons and they must move on from this world to another. I worry that my willow won't grow anymore without them._

'...I'm sorry. I didn't know.'

_The Champion could not have. It is possible that the Champion might even do something to help, but I fear such times are also beyond my sight._

'I promise to help you. The demon referred to you as the ancient glow, is that what I should call you?'

The light seemed to fade further, it looked tired. _ That is as good a name as any for now. I thank the summer Champion for her help, the Lost Old One is as wise as he ever was, he has Chosen well. I shall let her go now. Dawn is coming soon._

With that the light faded from Natsuki's mind, and the Slayer found herself being unceremoniously dropped from the magical grasp onto the wet stone floor. The Slayer groaned a bit in discomfort, before remembering she wasn't in nearly as much pain as she should have been from such a drop. Inspecting her wounds from earlier she was pleasantly surprised to find them almost healed. 'Thanks.' She thought, though she suspected that the glow or whatever it was really called was truly asleep and likely wouldn't hear her. Quickly checking her watch she winced when she noticed it was after five in the morning. 'Fuck me. Going to the Opening Ceremony today at 10 is going to be a bitch. At least it's Saturday and actual classes don't start until Monday.'

As she made her way out of the labyrinth and back to the monastery, she noticed that the way back seemed curiously much shorter and straighter, as though the walls had shifted to hasten her passage. However when she climbed back up the trapdoor she was even more surprised, all of the bodies of the monks were gone, not even a drop of their blood darkened the floor of the deserted monastery.

As she replaced the statue over the trapdoor, she noticed that its pose had changed from earlier and that the dark violet-blue flowers on the vines were beginning to open. The goddess was now waving at her, lips curved up into a smile, with her other hand on her hip. When Natsuki glanced back at her after a quick check of the room to make certain there was nothing else here that she needed to take for research, the goddess had returned to her neutral pose with both hands falling casually at her sides. The Slayer blinked in surprise, but just shook her head, deciding it was definitely time to head back to campus. _Ugh, I don't know how I'm going to survive the Opening Ceremony. And I have to tell Midori about this stuff before I can go to sleep too. I'm totally telling Mai that I'm just going to be sleeping all day Sunday and to not wake me up for anything short of the end of the world. _

It was seven by the time she walked through the door to her room. Too late to go back to sleep, but early enough that if she were still sleeping she probably wouldn't wake up to get ready for another hour. She smiled when she saw that Mai was still sleeping soundly and went over to the tiny kitchen to dispose of the note she had left earlier. Grabbing a bagel and a jug of orange juice from the fridge, Natsuki headed over to her computer to send Midori a quick email saying they needed to meet up somewhere this afternoon. After hitting send she staggered down the short hallway with a fresh change of clothes, eager to remove the dried blood and dirt from her skin and soak her sore muscles in some hot water. _Ugh, Sakuya was right. This year is really going to suck._


	4. Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER: not mine

((This update is brought to you by – caffeine. And reviewers like you! Thanks as always for the lovely feedback, I really appreciate it. You all are very kind people. ^^ ))

St. Peter's High School; April 1, 2000

Natsuki groaned at the throbbing pain in her head that seemed to be caused by keeping her eyes open. Sometimes she could pull an all-nighter, but the brutal fight with the demon and the visit from the 'ancient glow' in the monastery had really wiped her out. She suspected that even though the glow had apparently magically healed her wounds, she was still feeling a bit of residual fatigue from them. Not to mention whatever side effects the magical overload from the glow might have given her in the process. She grumbled softly to herself. She had gotten an email back from Midori thirty minutes ago telling her that the Watcher would be able to meet with her to discuss the new situation as soon as Natsuki got out of the Opening Ceremony for the new school year.

"You were up awfully early this morning Natsuki-chan." Mai commented from across the room where she was putting makeup on. They only had another forty minutes before Opening Ceremony started, and both Natsuki and Mai were already dressed, mostly ready to head out when it was time.

Natsuki picked absently at the pleated khaki skirt of her school uniform. She'd finally decided that she didn't really mind wearing skirts. She had worn one to school once last year on a dare, and when no one had made fun of how she looked in it she realized she had worried all this time over nothing. She still probably wouldn't wear a skirt outside of school or formal occasions but she had made peace with the idea. "Eh... yeah I guess I just couldn't sleep any longer." Natsuki replied. _Though I really wish that I could have. Ugh._

Mai shrugged, "You just look really tired this morning."

"Ugh, yeah... I just had a really hard time sleeping last night. I'm kindof worried about seeing my friend at the ceremony this morning because we've been fighting a bit lately, and we've never really had issues with that before." Natsuki offered an explanation that had the benefit of being partially true. She really was worried about how she would feel when she saw Shizuru today. Lately just the sight of her best friend caused her stomach to twist itself up in knots.

"I'm sorry Natsuki-chan. Was it a fight over boy problems or something? I know I completely lost a friend in junior high over some fight over a boy."

"Eh? No!" Natsuki exclaimed, surprised by the sudden suggestion of either herself or Shizuru being romantically interested in anyone. "I mean..." She sighed, "I don't know... it would probably be better if it was something stupid like that. I wouldn't care who Shizuru liked or anything." She stated firmly, even if the notion of Shizuru dating someone stirred vague angry feelings in the Slayer. Anyway the most important thing to her was that Shizuru was happy. If dating someone would make her friend happy, Natsuki wouldn't have a fight with her about it. "I just tried to push her to talk about a really emotional issue before she was ready. I even knew it was stupid at the time but the words just kept coming out of my mouth because I just can't sit still and not do anything sometimes." Natsuki explained sadly, "I've been trying to work up the courage to apologize to her, but I also don't want to risk bringing up the emotional topic again and reopening an old wound."

Mai walked over to sit down on the bed next to Natsuki. "I don't know what to tell you Natsuki-chan; that sounds really tough. Do you know where she lives? Maybe you could send her flowers or something with a little note saying that you're sorry and that you still really value her friendship and want to hang out sometime."

Green eyes widened at the suggestion, "Mai, you're a genius! Shizuru loves flowers. Gaah! Why didn't I think of something so obvious?" Natsuki cradled her sore head in her palms. She just sat there on the bed like that for a few minutes, hearing Mai stand up and walk across the room. Feeling a tap on her shoulder a minute later she looked up to see Mai holding a glass of water and two aspirin. Natsuki took the medication with a pathetically grateful look on her face, "Thanks Mai. I'm sorry I've been such a mess this morning, I promise I'm not normally like this."

Mai just shrugged smiling a bit at her roommate, "I'm just sorry you're feeling down that's all Natsuki-chan. I don't really mind having someone to take care of at all." She blushed, "It makes it feel more like home I guess."

Natsuki grinned up at her friend even though her head was still throbbing, "Well I'll be sure to indulge you with my issues a few times a week then." She glanced at the clock on her desk and let out a pained sigh, "Ugh... well I guess it's time to go sit and be bored."

Mai laughed as they both headed downstairs and outside. At least the weather was nice out, Natsuki noted as the two of them headed to the building with the auditorium, warm and sunny with a slight breeze gently blowing through the new leaves of the trees lining the main path through the campus. They were just heading past the boys' dorm when Natsuki was glomped from behind, "Hey Nastuki-kun, who's your new friend?" Tate asked, his muscular arm around his friend's shoulders as he tried to be subtle about staring at Mai's breasts.

Natsuki shrugged his arm off of her with annoyance, "What the hell Tate? Go away." She growled, really not in the mood to speak with anyone at the moment.

"Hey is that any way to treat your old friends?" Tate asked, gesturing to himself and Takeda who was approaching from behind.

"G-good morning K-Kuga-san." He greeted the dark haired girl shyly.

Natsuki rolled her eyes, "Takeda." She greeted shortly, determined as always to not give him the wrong idea. Though he didn't seem effected by her effort, no matter how rude or polite she was to him, he always acted exactly the same around her. When neither of them obeyed her request to go away Natsuki relented, "This is my roommate, Tokiha Mai. Mai this oaf," She gestured to Tate with her thumb, "is Yuuichi Tate. And that's Masashi Takeda." The tanned teen waved shyly at Mai. "They're both on the kendo team here. They know me because sometimes I like to drop in on their practice to kick their asses."

Mai laughed brightly, glancing at Tate, "Is that true Yuuichi-san?"

Tate puffed out his chest, "Of course not, I could take Kuga easy!" He continued his explanation, "I just can't right now because I injured my knee really badly last season. I'm going to be sitting out the tournaments this year. I'll be doing a lot of physical therapy before I can even hope to compete again." Natsuki rolled her eyes, not bothering to point out what an obvious excuse that was.

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that Yuuichi-san, I hope that you are able to make a full recovery this year."

"It will be a lot of work for sure, but I'm willing to put in the effort. After all Kuga and myself have a rematch scheduled."

"Sure, so I can kick your ass again." Natsuki laughed as she held open the door to the auditorium for her friends. When they got inside they were split up so that they could line up in their respective years in alphabetical order for the ceremony. Natsuki offered a wave to Yukino who was standing on the same row as she was while they waited for the ceremony to finally get started. _Because the sooner it starts, the sooner it will be over._

Looking up at the stage, Natsuki was happily surprised to see Shizuru sitting up there with the rest of the Student Council. _I guess she won the election to be head representative for the second years after all._ She let out a sigh at the distance between them these days that she wouldn't know about her friend's accomplishment. Then as the Student Council president for the year, some third year boy Natsuki didn't recognize took the podium, Shizuru's gaze met hers from across the room. Natsuki felt her breath catch in her throat as she looked at her friend, wishing that she was close enough to make out the colour of Shizuru's eyes. Then Shizuru offered her a slight nod and a smile before she shifted her gaze back to the speaker. With just that small acknowledgement from her friend, a warm feeling returned to her heart that had been missing for weeks. An irresistible smile found its way to Natsuki's lips, and though she had not rested, the Slayer suddenly had plenty of energy to make it through the day.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

Natsuki and Midori sat in a booth at a family restaurant in the city. Midori had come to pick Natsuki up from her school's campus right after the ceremony had ended for lunch, stating that it would be more fun to go out than to head back to the empty Fujino Estate. Natsuki had her doubts about how much fun they could have anywhere with the talk they needed to have. They had both already finished their meals, and were sitting drinking soda while they talked about the information Natsuki had found out the previous night, speaking in English to prevent being overheard.

"Then it told me that even though I didn't get there in time to prevent the damage from this attack, things worked out anyway. The plan is just going to be to for me to draw the attention of these guys away from the being. If I can keep them distracted long enough, they won't be able to reach it in time." Natsuki finished her summary of the events, leaving out the glow's specific references to Duran and its speculations about the future not involving this immediate threat. She glanced around the restaurant, absently thinking that the colourful decorations and bright lighting made this a pretty surreal place to be discussing the horrible massacre at the monastery.

"So basically this energy being wants you to make a giant target of yourself. Just make everything that was attacking it attack you until it is safe?" Midori asked with disbelief though she tried her best to keep her voice calm, "And you agreed it was a good idea to make yourself a target to protect something we don't know anything about?"

Natsuki nodded; feeling annoyed at her Watcher for questioning her. "Yeah. How is that so different from what I do everyday anyway? The only real difference is that this thing isn't human, but otherwise I'm mostly putting myself out there to protect a bunch of people who I don't know and who don't know me."

Hazel eyes gazed sadly at the teen, "Well I suppose you are right about that. I'm sorry Natsuki I didn't mean to sound like I thought you were completely wrong for agreeing, I guess I'm a bit worried." She picked nervously at the napkin under her drink, "It's just that from what you said about that demon you faced, this sounds like it will be much more dangerous than anything you've gone up against before. I'm only... are you sure this being wasn't evil?" She searched her Slayer's green eyes for any sign of doubt, "It's not that I don't believe you, really... it's just that I've never heard of anything like this before..."

Natsuki shrugged, "Well... it didn't seem evil. I mean how would I be completely sure? It didn't register at all on my Slayer-senses, it felt almost human. If it wasn't for the vast amounts of mystical energy I mean. How do those work anyway? Are they always accurate? Slayer-senses I mean."

"The Watcher Diaries seem to agree that Slayer-senses are pretty accurate. There are beings that can fool them though; even a simple vampire can be capable of it." Midori became slightly distracted as she thought about the philosophical implications, "Actually vampires, for all that they are terribly common and not the most powerful of supernatural creatures... they are actually the most skilled at being able to fool Slayer-senses. It might be because at least part of them remembers what it's like to be human...so some of them can... project that side of themselves if you will."

"You know Midori... I never told you about this." Natsuki interjected, "But there was one demon that I faced while I was at the First District that didn't set them off." Her eyes became sad as she gazed into the past, "Usually I try not to think about him. He said his name was Liam. He seemed so scared. When I killed him I got the same feeling that I've gotten the few times I've given a mercy death to a human."

Midori's eyes were gazing rather sharply into her own when the Slayer focused back on her Watcher, and she suddenly realized that she'd never told Midori about _any_ of this. "Maybe... maybe we should discuss the rest of this back at the house." The Watcher suggested. Speaking in English wasn't a good enough guarantee for keeping someone from overhearing _this_ conversation. "I probably should have had this talk with you a long time ago." Midori said sadly, her voice troubled. Natsuki just nodded, hoping that this wasn't as bad as Midori made it sound.

On the ride back to their old house, neither spoke about anything slaying related. Instead Natsuki told Midori about her new roommate, letting her know about Mai's interest in helping with the move on Saturday. As she had expected, Midori was quite pleased with the chance to get to know Mai, thrilled that her Slayer seemed to have already made a new friend.

When they arrived at the house they headed for the main room, Natsuki declining her Watcher's offer of tea. The sight of all the cardboard boxes and walls as bare as they had been when the two of them first moved in years ago made Natsuki stop in her tracks. _This isn't my home anymore. _She swallowed the lump in her throat at the thought. She turned from the boxes to see her Watcher gazing at her sympathetically, "Did you want to sit down on the sofa so we can discuss this?" Midori asked, not acknowledging the heavy emotions that they were both feeling.

"Sure." Natsuki spoke roughly, remembering all the hours that they had spent in this room; playing videogames, watching movies, researching the latest demon threat or just spending time together. She sat down on the far left cushion, feeling somewhat awkward here now. "So... how did you want to start this?"

Midori sat down opposite her resting her hands on her knees, unusually reluctant to meet Natsuki's eyes. "I'm not sure." Midori admitted. "You... have killed humans?" She finally asked, turning to look into those familiar green eyes, seeing pain there that she hadn't seen before. _How long has that been there?_

The Slayer nodded speaking slowly, reluctantly, "Only a few times, during these past few years... since I've been going out slaying alone."

Midori swallowed hard against the sudden tightness in her throat at the thought of her Slayer killing humans for any reason. There were more reasons than simple morality that made 'Slayers don't kill humans' one of the big rules. "And you said these were 'mercy deaths'. You mean someone was dying slowly from a wound, so you killed them quickly so that they wouldn't suffer longer?"

"...Mostly."

"Mostly?" Midori asked softly, her eyes narrowing in suspicion, "What do you mean by that exactly?"

Natsuki looked down at her hands, unable to look at her Watcher's face while she made her confession. "Last October. It was only a couple months after I got my claws. I was out patrolling in a bad part of town that you normally prefer I don't frequent because of all the human gang activity. Yukino had told me that she'd read about a rash of what seemed to be gang-related rapes and murders in the area." She paused in her story, trying to organize her thoughts. "I came across three thugs raping and beating a woman in a back alley. There was so much blood. They were human. I managed to scare two of them off, but the third... I was so angry. My claws came out without my thinking about it. I slashed his throat open. He was dead in less than a minute." Natsuki's voice cracked, "The woman was bleeding so badly, when I took her to the hospital they said if it had been much longer until she was brought in she would have died." She finally turned to meet her Watcher's troubled eyes, setting her jaw defiantly, "I don't regret what I did. I would do it again."

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Midori asked her voice hoarse.

Natsuki shrugged, "Slayers aren't supposed to kill humans."

The Watcher nodded. She didn't raise her voice as she replied, "Do you know why Slayers aren't supposed to kill humans?"

"I don't know... I figured it was just some rule to keep us under control."

"There's more to it than that Natsuki." Midori spoke softly, angry with herself for not having explained this much sooner. _How could I have failed her this way? _She rested a hesitant hand on her Slayer's shoulder, seeing the surprise in Natsuki's eyes at the sympathetic touch. "In some of the Watcher Diaries... some Watchers whose Slayers had encountered similar situations wrote down their observations on the subject of Slayers taking human lives. They concluded that something about the act of taking the life of a souled creature reacts badly with whatever the essence of the Slayer is."

Dark eyebrows furrowed together in contemplation, "What do you mean by that? Doesn't killing affect everyone?"

Midori nodded, "You're right it does. A soldier is not the same when he returns home from a war. But they suspected that there was something unique about the Slayer that makes her particularly sensitive to the affects of killing something with a soul."

"But if demons don't have souls, why would I have felt the same thing when I killed Liam?"

"Well they don't have souls in the strictly human sense anyway. They do have an essence that makes them what they are though, and in some demons that essence can be very similar to a human soul. Demons that aren't evil I guess you could say." Midori explained slowly, her tone of voice lead Natsuki to believe that even her Watcher didn't completely understand this.

"But I thought that being evil was kindof the nature of demons..." Natsuki questioned, confused.

Midori shrugged, "Generally that is true... but I guess the short answer is that things are never that simple. Just like having a soul doesn't prevent humans from sometimes being evil, sometimes demons can choose to be good. Or at least not evil. Not all demon varieties can even make a choice like that. But some can. Actually the species of demon that the First District used in the ritual to make you a Slayer was one of them. A 'good' demon. I suppose that their demon essence could be changed because of that...Perhaps causing it register differently to Slayer-senses."

"And vampires? They're not exactly demons."

"No, they're not. But they aren't human anymore either, as you know. Part of them is still human I suppose, they have a lot of the survival instincts and also the ability to feel most human emotions, and not even just the nasty ones like anger and hate. The difference is that the soul of the human they were in life has been completely replaced by demonic essence." Midori paused thoughtfully, her eyes lighting up as she remembered something, "Though I have actually heard of rare cases where a vampire has had its human soul returned."

Natsuki's eyes widened, "A vampire with its human soul? I didn't know that was even possible."

"Apparently it is... though I wouldn't think that would be ethical."

"But Midori, why would it not be? You could give that person their life back." Natsuki suddenly worried that maybe she had been going about dealing with the vampire problem the wrong way all this time.

Midori shook her head emphatically, "The human soul would have all of the memories of what the vampire had done, just like the vampire retains all of the memories of the human's life when it rises. Any horrible acts done by the vampire before the soul was returned would be remembered as though committed by the returned soul's own hands. Also as they would still be in a vampire body, it would still have all of the same urges to kill humans that it did before even if the soul living in it would want no such thing." She sighed, "It couldn't be viewed as anything but an act of cruelty to bring back a human soul into that sort of existence. And again we're brought back to the fact that the human soul is hardly immune to corruption, so just because you managed to resoul a vampire that's hardly any guarantee that it would immediately stop being evil."

"Like those creeps who were hurting that woman." Natsuki growled out, glaring at her Watcher defiantly, "They were going to kill her too I think."

Midori tried not to show the pain from that look on her face, "Natsuki, I'm not saying you were wrong. I probably would have reacted rather similarly if I had happened upon something like that." She nodded at the disbelieving look in green eyes, "I would have. I just wanted to make sure you knew that there are consequences for you in taking such actions that are greater than the ones I would face. I'm not going to sit here and tell you the exact way that you should lead your life, I do trust you to have your heart in the right place Natsuki." She smiled sadly, running her fingers through Natsuki's long dark hair, "Just please let me know about things. You need to be able to talk to someone about the pain this causes you. If you keep it all to yourself it can hurt you. Helping you through situations like this is what I'm here for Natsuki."

"Thanks." She mumbled, closing her eyes for a moment to enjoy the comforting touch. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you... I was just afraid."

"I understand. I promise though that you can tell me anything. If you need my help, I'm always here for you Natsuki, no matter what's happened alright?" Midori pleaded softly, smiling when her Slayer nodded sheepishly.

"The energy from last night?" Natsuki brought up again, "I really don't think it was evil. But no matter what, I know that letting those things that attacked the monastery get control of it would lead to something very bad happening. I'm not sure what exactly, but I have to protect this thing. I can't even explain why I feel so strongly about keeping it safe, but I do Midori."

Hearing the resolve in her Slayer's voice Midori nodded, "If it feels important to you Natsuki, it probably is." She got up from the couch and walked over to grab a thick notebook and a pen off of a nearby shelf that wasn't packed yet, "Now if you would please give me a detailed description of everything that you saw last night so I can make notes that would be great. I need to get started on this research as soon as possible."

Natsuki nodded, but teased her Watcher a bit before she started, "Alright, but promise me you'll at least get _some_ sleep before I'm supposed to help you move next weekend. I worry about you now that I won't be here to remind you of mealtimes and sleeping and things like that while you're in research mode." Thinking of that did actually bring a small frown to the Slayer's lips. _Who is going to look out for Midori without me here?_

Midori just laughed and tussled the Slayer's dark hair affectionately, "I'll set up the alarm clock in here to remind me or something. You don't have to worry about me too much Natsuki. I did survive graduate school you know."

Natsuki blushed and quickly launched into a more detailed description of the demons and the essence that she encountered last night. She also gave her Watcher descriptions of the designs on the monastery wall, and the statue of the goddess that had been guarding the entryway into the essence's chamber. It was almost dark outside by the time Midori dropped Natsuki back off at the dorm. As she walked into the room she shared with Mai, the Slayer was so tired from the events of the previous night and the emotional exchange with her Watcher that she simply collapsed onto her bed still dressed, fast asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER: Does anyone actually read these?

((AN: Thanks again for all the nice feedback, I really appreciate all of your encouragement. ^^ ))

St. Peter's High School, April 3, 2000

"Good morning Natsuki-chan!" Mai greeted her roommate cheerfully as the dark haired girl was pouring herself some coffee.

"Unfortunately." She grumbled, flopping down in the chair across from Mai at their tiny card table.

Mai laughed, "What, you're not excited about our first day of classes?"

"Are you?" Natsuki questioned, glancing over her coffee at her strangely cheerful roommate.

"I'm just so excited that my first year of senior high is finally starting! I'm looking forward to making lots of fun memories." Mai's blue-grey eyes twinkled with excitement.

"Eh, I guess there might be some fun to be had." Chugging down the rest of her coffee, Natsuki got up to refill her mug. "Let me finish drinking this and then I'll get back to you."

Mai nodded and put a paper bag she had been holding on the table, "Also I'm in a good mood because I got up early and splurged at the dining hall this morning. I brought you back a jelly donut."

Natsuki was immediately next to the table looking in the small white bag. Pulling out the coveted pastry she gave her roommate a blinding grin, "Mai, I love you."

The orange haired girl blushed slightly, "I was just worried that you didn't get enough to eat yesterday. You slept almost all day."

"I just wanted to make sure I was rested enough for the first day." Natsuki defended herself, a mournful expression on her face since the donut was already gone. "Ugh, I guess it's time to head to class. Do you know who our homeroom professor is supposed to be?" She questioned, grabbing her backpack from its spot next to the door.

"No actually, apparently it changed since they printed up our schedules at the beginning of last month. It was the Japanese History instructor, but he had to retire suddenly because he had a really bad heart attack. Apparently he was an older man." Mai explained, "I haven't been able to find out from anyone who they got to replace him."

Natsuki shrugged, "Guess we'll find out when we get there. I'm just glad we're in the same class this year."

"Me too." Mai said with a shy smile, "Did you say you were going to go to the kendo team's practice after classes let out?"

"I was thinking about it, why?"

"Um, I was just wondering if you thought Tate-kun might be there even though he's got that injury."

Natsuki raised her eyebrow in question, "Tate-kun?" She asked, her voice dripping sarcasm. "Anyway I dunno. I'll see how I feel later. I wanted to get in some sparring though, so maybe. It's just that I've been trying to avoid Takeda so that he doesn't get the wrong idea."

Mai blushed slightly, but tried to deflect the conversation away from herself, "But why are you avoiding him? He seems like a nice guy."

"Because he's dense and can't take a hint. He can't even take an outright refusal." Natsuki explained rolling her eyes, "I'm just not interested in dating right now and he won't just drop the idea. And even if I was interested in dating someone, I still wouldn't be interested in dating him."

"I see..." Mai said though she seemed confused, as though she couldn't quite wrap her brain around the concept of someone being uninterested in dating.

When they reached the classroom there were plenty of students already seated at their desks, but there was no sign of their homeroom teacher just yet. Mai and Natsuki found two desks one in front of the other next to the windows. "What do we have first?"

"Japanese History."

Natsuki groaned a bit, history wasn't really her favourite subject. When their teacher for the first class finally walked in, she thought her eyes were going to fall out of their sockets in surprise, "Holy shit!" She cursed loudly in English.

The teacher just laughed, "Good morning to you too Natsuki." Midori grinned.

"M-Midori?" Natsuki exclaimed, momentarily oblivious to the fact that everyone in the room was staring back and forth between her and their new teacher.

Midori just gave the Slayer a playful wink and moved to the whiteboard and began writing quickly, "Good morning class. My name is Sugiura Midori, I'll be your class's homeroom teacher this year, as well as teaching you Japanese History. Also if any of you need extra help in English, you can feel free to see me during my office hours for that as well if your English professor is busy."

"That's your guardian isn't it?" Mai whispered leaning forward in her seat.

"Yep."

"She seems cool."

"Yep." Natsuki blushed when Midori turned to look at her, for a moment fearing that she was going to get called out for talking already. But Midori just grinned and walked over to pull a stack of papers out of the rucksack that she'd dropped on the desk when she'd come in.

"Alright, this is the syllabus for this term. It has the dates for all of your graded assignments as well as a rough outline for what we will be covering. It is subject to change though, so you could find yourself in trouble if you're skipping class too often and relying just on this to tell you when your tests are." Midori rattled off as she handed them out. Natsuki was impressed, it sounded like Midori had been teaching for years. "The syllabus also has my office hours and school email address on it; I want all of you to feel free to use them if you have any questions about the material we're covering in class. All of your homework assignments for this class will be completed online; there are instructions for how to register for that on the syllabus as well."

Midori wandered back to the desk, leaning against it as she absently watched the students passing the papers back. "Alright... now I guess I'll pretend like you all care and tell you a bit about myself." She grinned as some of the students laughed nervously, "I'm from Hokkaido, but I went to university at Oxford in England. I got my Bachelor's and Master's in History, with a focus on ancient civilizations. After that I spent five years doing fieldwork in North Africa and Southwest Asia." Her gaze fell on Natsuki, her eyes shining affectionately as she continued, "The last few years or so I took a bit of a break to do something different, spent some time as a personal trainer in several martial arts, most notably naginatajutsu."

Natsuki grinned back at Midori, glancing about at the various looks of wide-eyed awe on the other students faces. _Damn, I never realized how cool my Watcher is before._ Natsuki looked over her shoulder to see Mai's reaction and laughed a bit at her similarly awestruck expression. "So..." Midori continued, "That's enough about me. Let's have each of you give a brief self-introduction and then we'll get started with the short lesson for today."

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"You didn't tell me that Sugiura-sensei was so cool!" Mai accused her roommate as they headed towards the dining hall. The orange haired girl had packed a lunch, but they had agreed to meet up with Chie, Tate and the others for the free period.

Natsuki rolled her eyes, "Yeah well she didn't tell me that she was applying to work here either."

Mai laughed, "I'm sure she just wanted to surprise you."

"Well she definitely succeeded." Natsuki grumbled, though her eyes were dancing with amusement. "Just when I think I've got her all figured out."

"I packed you some sandwiches too Natsuki-chan." Mai commented as Natsuki held open the door to the dining hall for her friend. "Though knowing you, you should still pick up something else to eat too." She teased, having already figured out that her roommate had a more than healthy appetite.

Natsuki grinned, "Thanks Mai, and yeah I'll go pick something up while you go grab me a seat at our table. Did you want me to get you a drink or anything?"

"Iced tea?"

"Sure. I'll be right back." She gave her friend a wave as she headed over to the line, grinning to find that it wasn't too long yet since their math professor had let them go a few minutes early. _Just one more reason why it's my favourite subject!_ She grabbed a bowl of beef teriyaki, an apple, a soda and Mai's tea before paying with her meal card and heading over to the table where most of her friends were already sitting. She wondered briefly why Shizuru didn't seem to hang out with Chie and Tate much these days. "Hey Chie, are you in Shizuru's class this year?" She asked as she sat down next to Mai and as far away from Takeda as possible, silently thanking Mai for thinking about that when she chose her seat.

"Yeah why?" Chie asked as she typed on her phone, apparently sending someone a text message. "Aoi said her science lab ran five minutes over but she'll be here in a minute." Chie added, as though anyone else at their table cared just as much as she did about exactly when Aoi got there.

"I was just wondering why she doesn't seem to hang out with you much these days?"

Chie shrugged, "She seems to mostly hang out with Reito, Haruka and her sempai on the Student Council. It started last year actually when she got selected as our class representative, she just started hanging out with the rest of us less often. She's still polite enough, but you know how Shizuru-san can be."

Natsuki gazed worriedly out the window, "I hope she's okay..."

Chie scoffed, "Eh, you know you don't have to worry about Shizuru-san." She looked at the two first years, "Anyway does your year have History with that new professor we just got too? Over here Kenji-kun!" She called out, seeing Yukino and Kenji walking around looking for them. "So, do you guys have that new History professor?" She asked again as the other two sat down.

"We did!" Yukino exclaimed excitedly, "She seemed really cool! She was telling our class about this archaeological dig that she was on in Israel, it sounded amazing." Kenji nodded enthusiastically as well; though he was too busy trying to eat his pizza as quickly as possible to add anything verbally.

"She's Natsuki-chan's legal guardian." Mai interjected slyly, causing everyone to turn and stare at the dark haired girl.

"Who's Natsuki-kun's guardian?" Aoi asked, sitting down next to Chie.

"That new Japanese History professor, Sugiura-sensei." Chie said her light brown eyes glinting with curiosity.

"Really? I haven't had her class yet." Aoi pouted. "Everyone else says she's awesome though, I guess I just have to wait until after lunch." She turned her soft blue eyes to Natsuki, "I do think I remember seeing her a few times at Shizuru-san's house though when we went over there for her birthday parties. She's pretty."

Natsuki just rolled her eyes as she hurried to finish the food she was chewing so she could answer her friends' questions. "If you mean the tall redhead, then yeah that's her. She adopted me when I was seven." She explained, anticipating their next question but leaving out most of the details.

"Does she really know a whole bunch of martial arts?" Tate asked excitedly.

"She does! She was on Oxford's fencing team during college too. Her specialty is as an epee dual-wielder." Natsuki grinned, proud to boast about her Watcher's fighting prowess. "She's a black belt in Wing Chun kung fu and Aikido, and is really talented in kendo as well. She's also really good shot with a crossbow." She leaned in closer to her friends, laughing inwardly at their spellbound expressions, "I also happen to know that she owns a grappling hook."

"No shit? And she's teaching at our school why?" Kenji asked, puzzled.

Natsuki shrugged, "To keep an eye on me probably. Since she's letting me live in the dorms this year." Natsuki rolled her eyes as her friends laughed at her expense.

"Anyway I'm going over to her apartment this weekend with Natsuki-chan." Mai bragged.

"Natsuki-chan do you think you could see about getting me an interview with her for the school paper?" Yukino asked her friend shyly.

Natsuki tried to ignore them but after a minute she put down her sandwich with a sigh, taking in the eager looks on her friends' faces, "Yukino, you should just email her. I know she'll say yes. As for visiting her apartment... Not this weekend for the rest of you alright? She's just getting moved in. I'll ask her though." She rolled her eyes again at the enthusiastic agreements. _My Watcher is going to be more popular at my new school than I am this year._ Still Natsuki smiled to herself as she went back to eating her lunch, it felt good to know that she would be seeing her Watcher almost every day, even if things would be different than before.

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Thursday April 6, 2000

Natsuki looked nervously up and down the hall, hiding one hand behind her back as she knocked hesitantly on the door to the faculty lounge. She only had to wait a few moments before the door opened slowly to reveal her math professor, who raised a bushy eyebrow in question when he spotted Natsuki.

"Oh, um hi Murakami-sensei. Is Midori... um I mean, Sugiura-sensei in? I needed to drop something off for her." She asked, still feeling awkward about using Midori's surname.

He smiled at her, "She sure is Kuga-san, don't worry she warned the rest of us ahead of time that you might be dropping by occasionally. Come on in, just don't let the other students know I let you into the clubhouse alright?"

"I swear on my sword."

He laughed as she followed him in to the lounge. _Wow this is just as swanky as the dorms._ She thought absently as she looked around, spotting Midori reading in a comfortable looking leather easy chair by one of the large windows with a lovely view of the campus. She grinned as she looked at her Watcher for a moment, _She certainly doesn't look any older today than she ever has. Thirty-eight. Time sure flies._

"Hey Midori." She spoke softly as she reached the redhead's side.

The Watcher glanced up, slightly startled as always at being pulled out of her own personal world she entered when reading, but still smiling at the sound of her Slayer's voice, "Hey Natsuki! What brings you to my secret lair?"

Natsuki grinned revealing what she had been hiding behind her back, a bouquet of wildflowers and a black plush lion. "Happy Birthday Midori." She said simply, grinning wider as her Watcher blushed red as she accepted the gifts. "It's not much I know but..."

Midori stood quickly and pulled her Slayer into a one-armed hug, "Thank you Natsuki, it was sweet of you to think of me."

Natsuki gazed up into her Watcher's eyes affectionately, "Of course I did. Do you like working here so far?"

"If only for the posh teacher's lounge." Midori replied with a grin, before continuing in a soft voice that only Natsuki would be close enough to hear, "Yeah actually I like it more than I thought I would. Strangely even though I always knew I would be a Watcher, I never thought about teaching. There seem to be some similarities."

"Well I know from being your Slayer that you'll be the best teacher any of these rich kids have ever had." Natsuki replied sincerely.

Midori blushed again making Natsuki laugh a little. "Yes well... how have your first few days been?" She asked, desperate to get the sentimental attention away from herself, not comfortable with displaying so much emotion in a public space.

Natsuki rolled her eyes, "Well they've been pretty alright. Suddenly everyone wants to ask me for insider information about this really hot young professor that just joined the staff."

"Oh?" Midori asked raising her eyebrow, "Who is this hot young professor? Perhaps you should introduce me too."

Natsuki just laughed, "You're so silly sometimes. Did you want to do anything this evening to celebrate?"

"I dunno... maybe ice cream?"

"Sounds great, just call me on my cellphone when you're ready to go and I'll come meet up with you alright?"

"Sure. You have a good day! And thanks again for thinking of me."

"Always."

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It was a warm sunny spring afternoon, but Natsuki still felt a bit cold inside as she stood on the grassy hill overlooking the small church. The white stone building was smaller than most of the others here, but it still seemed to dominate the campus. Natsuki absently reached up and pulled her necklace out of the collar of her uniform shirt, running her fingers lightly over the cool metal of the large silver cross. Natsuki wondered for a moment why she felt drawn here today, after she had said goodbye to Midori earlier she had been hit hard by the weight she felt on her shoulders from the events of the last couple of months. Duran had still not appeared to her with any helpful advice about the new demon threats or the glow, indeed he had not appeared to her to explain Sakuya's comments from months ago either. The stress of the new threat, her rift with Shizuru and the distancing she felt from Midori with the move, all added up to leave the Slayer feeling more alone than she had in years.

Taking a deep breath she headed slowly down the hill, feeling her heart pounding hard in her chest as she eased open one of the heavy wooden doors of the cathedral. The large room was empty when she entered, and even though she stepped softly the sound of her footsteps seemed to echo loudly off the stone walls. It seemed both dark and light inside the cathedral, there were no electric lights so the room was dimly lit, but the sun streaming through the large stained glass windows painted the room in bright colours. Walking further into the room, she spotted a small altar in a dimly lit corner, the only light coming from a dozen small candles that flickered warmly, illuminating the simple wooden carving on the wall behind them. Natsuki approached cautiously, taking in the image of the martyred saviour who had died alone, apparently to save the souls of people who mostly didn't know him. She stood awkwardly looking at the altar for a moment, not certain what she was doing here, before she reached out hesitantly to grab a small white candle and lighting it placed it carefully beside the others.

She felt a small warmth in her chest as she gazed at the tiny flame for a moment before walking over and sitting down on a thinly cushioned pew bench, gazing up at the large stained glass window at the front of the church. She draped her arms over the bench in front of her and rested her chin on them, allowing her eyes to drift closed as she enjoyed the peaceful stillness, something she had gained a new appreciation for lately. She deliberately slowed her breathing, listening to the sound of her heartbeat echoing in her ears. After a while she again found herself tracing the silver metal of the cross pendant, thinking not for the first time about the similar burden a Slayer was faced with. _Probably dying much too young, protecting people I don't know from dangers they don't understand._

It wasn't really something that Natsuki liked to dwell on; in fact she'd never brought up her worries about this part of her calling to Midori. She knew that her Watcher worried enough already without knowing that lately the Slayer was thinking about her own mortality more than she had in the past. Opening her eyes she gazed up at the stained glass depiction of the kind looking bearded young man in a white robe. He was standing in the moonlight holding a lantern and offering out his hand for one to take hold of it and follow him down the path. _Were you scared too? Knowing that you were going to have to die for them?_ The man in the glass just smiled at her kindly, but remained silent. _I don't suppose you know anything about the ancient glow?_ For a moment she thought the silver cross in her hand felt warmer, but figured it must have just been a trick of her mind.

Hearing a slight creak of wood and metal, she looked over to see two people entering the sanctuary through one of the side doors. One of them was a young blonde girl, no older than seven and the other she recognized as being Miyu from her class this year, though they had not spoken much. Miyu was a rather stern, quiet girl who mostly kept to herself, only speaking to others when asked a direct question. Her eyes were similar in colour to Shizuru's, but the few times Natsuki had spoken with Miyu all she could think was that even if they were red, Miyu's eyes always seemed cold. Her skin and hair were both rather pale, nearly white, in colour and Natsuki suspected that the stern girl might be an albino. Though obviously she wasn't about to ask the cold girl such a personal question.

Natsuki watched the two of them curiously while trying not to be obvious about it. She had to admit that she wasn't expecting to see Miyu here, certainly not with a young child. Though in the golden haired girl's presence, the expression on Miyu's face seemed almost soft as she looked down into the young girl's wide blue eyes. "Ojou-sama." Miyu spoke softly to the young girl, her voice full of emotion instead of cold and flat like every other time Natsuki had heard her speak.

"Thank you Miyu." The small girl replied, her own tone also warm and affectionate. She gave the older girl's hand a squeeze before releasing it to go stand on the raised platform at the front, while Miyu walked back further in the room to take a seat in one of the benches across the aisle from where Natsuki was sitting.

The sanctuary was silent once more for a few long moments as the golden haired girl simply stood gazing at Miyu affectionately. Then her bright blue eyes drifted closed and she began to sing in heavily accented, but still beautiful English. Natsuki blinked in surprise at the sound of the young girl's strong, pure voice. The acoustics of the stone made it seem as though her voice filled up the entire room like a warm golden light. Natsuki glanced over at Miyu to see her gazing at the young girl with warm eyes and a peaceful smile on her face. When Natsuki exited the cathedral a short while later, she felt much warmer inside than she had when she entered. _It's nice to sometimes get a reminder that even if I don't know them all, they're worth it._

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"Thanks for hanging out with an old lady like me this evening to celebrate my birthday." Midori grinned as she pulled her red sedan up in front of Natsuki's dorm. They had ended up going out for dinner and heading to the arcade for a little while, it was already 9p.m. but tomorrow was Friday. "You looked nice tonight by the way. You should dress up more often."

"Midori. You're not old." Natsuki replied automatically looking down self-consciously at her light blue oxford shirt and khakis, chuckling a bit to herself at how her style seemed to resemble Midori's. "And thanks, I guess I still think it's more trouble than it's worth, but I'll get dressed up nice for the right person." She grinned at her Watcher, "So Saturday morning Mai and me will try to get to the house by 8:30. Did you want us to bring donuts or anything?"

"Sure that would be great. I'm looking forward to getting to know her, she sounds nice."

Natsuki nodded enthusiastically, "She is, I really lucked out getting her as a roommate." She leaned over to give her Watcher an awkward hug, "Anyway I'll see you in class tomorrow I guess... drive safe alright?"

Midori returned the hug with a smile, "I promise. Remember call me if you need anything."

Putting on her leather jacket the Slayer got out of the little car, giving a wave as her Watcher drove away. Natsuki sighed, running a hand through her dark hair and allowing the loneliness to wash over her. She looked up to see a light in the room she shared with Mai, and for a moment considered just going upstairs and spending some time with her new friend to try and banish the feeling. Instead she swallowed down the emptiness and turned in the opposite direction, heading into the dark for a quick patrol. Since the first night last week she had only encountered a couple more vampires on campus. Midori had explained that no one noticed because the incidents of violence at this school were actually lower than most of the senior high schools in the city, despite the slight vampire problem.

Natsuki gazed up at the dark sky as she walked slowly across campus, the sky was mostly overcast and there was a new moon so her familiar white companion wasn't out to keep her company tonight either. She found her feet carrying her in the direction of the church, and was startled to notice another person walking on the dark path a little ways ahead of her. A glimpse of pale hair in the dim light was enough for Natsuki to identify Miyu. _What's she doing heading out this way so late at night?_ Natsuki wondered, following behind at a distance to avoid disturbing the girl's alone time but close enough to keep an eye on her. After all she didn't want something to happen to Miyu when she'd only today discovered the kind side of the otherwise stern girl.

Natsuki blinked in surprise when she saw Miyu enter through the backdoor of the church. She thought it would be locked up this time of night. She waited, watching from the shadows for five minutes and when she didn't see the pale girl come back out from the church, she hesitantly approached the door herself only to find that it was locked. The Slayer sighed as she glared at the locked door. It would be easy enough for her to break the lock, but since she couldn't be sure that there was a good reason to, she couldn't really justify the property destruction. Besides if she somehow got caught breaking into the church on campus of all things, she was fairly certain that would be grounds for the administration to revoke her permission to have her bladed weapons in her room.

Deciding that she wasn't going to encounter any baddies on patrol tonight, the Slayer turned and started heading back to her dorm. She had only walked a short distance when there was a sudden flash of bright gold light behind her, and before she could turn around to see what had caused it there was a large scaly hand closing around the back of her neck.

"Champion." It hissed, "Why is it here? We knows that the glow cannot be here. The Champion leaves it unprotected."

"Yeah, well this Champion has to go to school." Natsuki growled out.

The demon grunted before tensing his arm and throwing the Slayer into a nearby tree. She hit the rough bark hard, cursing herself for not stopping to get some heavier weapons before heading out on patrol. She should have known better than to only expect vampires when this new threat was around. She leapt to her feet, blinking rapidly to try and clear her blurry vision. The demon, who looked more like two demons to Natsuki at the moment laughed as it approached her. She backed up behind the tree, putting some distance between herself and the demon, hoping to buy more time. Gritting her teeth she quickly extended out her boneclaws, feeling the extra rush of adrenaline released by the pain.

"Come outs Champion! They saids that you were tough, but you is hiding from us." The demon hissed. "If the Champion tells us where we can finds the glow, we will lets the Champion go."

Her vision finally cleared, Natsuki turned to see that the demon really _did_ seem to be doubled. It had two heads and four arms at least. Like the demon at the monastery it seemed to be made from a conglomeration of human parts, only instead of having a spidery squid-like appearance, it seemed to be more like a fish. Its entire body was covered with pale brown scales and bony protrusions that resembled fins, the ones on its hands seemed like they could double as natural weapons similar to Natsuki's own boneclaws.

The Slayer took an unsteady breath, trying to assess the situation more calmly. This was a larger demon, one that she would prefer not to face completely unarmed. She could give it false information to send it away, but that would almost certainly lead to someone else getting hurt or worse. Also there was the small fact that demons weren't really known for keeping their word when offering a bargain like this in the first place, so she would be giving it a freebee.

She glared into the demon's faces, clenching her fists that were concealed by the long sleeves of her leather jacket, hiding her natural weapons from the demon's sight. "Bite me."

The demon let out a hissing laugh, "Goood. We prefers it this way." The fish-like demon strode toward her with unexpected swiftness, striking at her stomach with a bony fist so rapidly that Natsuki barely got her own fists up fast enough to avoid being gutted.

The Slayer let out a low grunt of pain as she dug the claws of both of her hands deeper into the demon's thick arm. Three of its own claws were embedded a few centimetres deep into her stomach, if they had gone much deeper, or if she hadn't been as well muscled, her intestines would probably spilling all over the ground under this tree. There was one good thing about this situation though, the Slayer noted with a feral grin as she twisted her claws and shoved the demon back hard, sending him falling to the ground several meters away. _I'm actually stronger than him._ _He's just fast._ She jumped quickly before the demon could stand, driving the claws of one hand into the eyes of the demon's right head and the claws of the other fist through a fin, using it to pin the demon to the ground more firmly.

"Now," She growled grinning into the demon's remaining eyes, ignoring the steady flow of blood pouring from the wound in her stomach onto her captive, "How about you tell me who you work for, and then I'll let _you_ live."

The demon just shrugged helplessly and shook his head. "As the Champion says, we tells you nothing. 'Bite us.'"

The Slayer grunted in acknowledgement, removing her gore-covered claws from the eyes of the no longer moving right head, and swiftly stabbing them cleanly through the neck of the left, neatly severing the bony spine. She let out a ragged breath as she retracted her claws, the pain in her wounds hitting her strongly as she struggled to stand. Suddenly she lost her balance and fell to the ground when the demon's body unexpectedly disintegrated in a shower of gold sparks. _What the hell, it poofed like a vamp?_ She tried to remember if the demon at the monastery had done that too. _I'm pretty sure its body was still on the floor after I'd finished searching around upstairs..._ She sighed, again slowly rising to her feet. _I guess I'll have to ask Midori._

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

"Ojou-sama!" Miyu exclaimed as she rushed forward to catch the small blonde girl right as her knees gave out. Her sensors registered a strange sensation as those big blue eyes gazed up at her, the pupils dilated from pain. A brief touch to the girl's neck confirmed that Alyssa's pulse and breathing were much too slow and weak. Miyu protectively cradled the young girl against her chest, unable to find any protocol in her programming to help. "You need to rest." She murmured into Alyssa's soft golden hair.

"I can't yet Miyu. I failed." The small girl spoke very slowly, her words so slurred with her fatigue that Miyu's auditory sensors could barely make them out. Miyu gritted her teeth, and glared up at the tall black robed older man who had just entered the room. She wished that her programming would allow her to eliminate him.

"Alyssa, how could you fail to get the location? From just one girl? We need that information!" He yelled throwing the heavy book he was holding onto the floor next to the two girls.

Miyu couldn't take it. "Ojou-sama is still weak from the summoning days ago Greer-sama." She growled out the hated man's name with as much emotion as she could. "Her reserves were only at 57% when she performed the summoning tonight."

The old man just narrowed his small black eyes at the pale protector, "I don't want to hear your excuses for her. She has been wasting too much of her time on _music _instead of practicing her control over her magic." He turned his beady eyes to Alyssa's tired blue ones that she was barely keeping open, "If we don't have some results by the end of the month, I will forbid you from singing in next month's festival."

"Yes Father." Alyssa replied weakly, her blue eyes finally drifting closed completely as the small girl had no more energy to keep them open.

Miyu just glared at the older man as she stood, easily holding the slight weight of her Alyssa in her arms. She fought with her programming, trying to find some loophole that would allow her to break the neck of the insufferable man standing in front of her. Finding nothing, she simply nodded stiffly to him and walked from the cold basement, careful not to wake the golden haired girl asleep in her arms.


	6. Chapter 6

DISCLAIMER: Despite some words said in this chapter, my opinions are not Natsuki's. ^_^ I have a special place in my heart for Sailor Moon, and Nanoha, despite a few things about it that bug me, is one of my favourite anime.

((AN: Just a short little chapter that may or may not give my dear readers some things to think about. -.o ))

Natsuki was attempting once more to return to her dorm when she was again delayed, this time by a familiar smooth baritone voice addressing her from behind, "I always knew that you were a freak Kuga." The words were uncharacteristically direct for someone who was normally the ideal politician.

Natsuki turned slowly to see just what she had feared she would. _Fuck me. What's Reito doing out here?_ She grunted, not bothering to respond verbally. Against her better judgement she stopped walking and waited for the tall boy to approach her.

"I know what I saw." He spoke lowly, his voice sounding almost angry.

"Reito, this is a really bad time." Natsuki turned to walk away, really not in the mood to try and explain anything, especially not to Reito. She was tired and in pain and just wanted to go back to her room, take a quick shower and then go to bed.

"That's why she doesn't want to be around you anymore isn't it? Shizuru-chan finally found out what a freak you are and woke up."

Before he could take another breath, Natsuki was glaring into his eyes her hands roughly fisting the collar of his uniform shirt, ignoring the pain from her still slightly bleeding stomach wound. The Slayer growled; it was requiring almost all of her willpower to keep her claws from extending themselves with the white hot rage flowing through her from his comment. "If you saw what I can do, maybe you should think more carefully before you make me angry." She forced out through gritted teeth before shoving the tall young man roughly away from her, grinning dangerously as he fell to the ground. "If you say another word about Shizuru..."

The tall male just shrugged, surprisingly unconcerned by Natsuki's anger. "I just know it can't be safe for anyone to be around you. Too many things want you dead, maybe for a good reason. I'm glad that Shizuru-chan isn't around you anymore, you'd only get her killed."

Natsuki tried not to show any emotions on her face as Reito stared up at her from where he had fallen, his brown eyes narrowed. He had managed to hit on an old insecurity of hers, that being a Slayer put those she cared about in danger, even if being strong also allowed her to protect them. "Then maybe I should be spending more of my time with you." She shook her head her voice trembling with anger as she continued, "Reito get away from me. I really can't do this right now." She turned away from him, once more attempting to make her way towards cleanness and a warm bed. "If you follow me, I'll give your pretty face some black eyes."

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

The Slayer let out an exhausted sigh, leaning against the cool wooden door to her room to close it. She took a deep breath and then attempted to kick her boots off of her feet without having to lean over and aggravate her stomach wound. She carefully shrugged out of her jacket, allowing it to simply fall on the beige carpet, half-heartedly kicking it out from in front of the door, groaning softly to herself.

"Natsuki-chan?" Mai called from where she was reading her chemistry text on her bed. Looking up her blue-grey eyes widened as she took in the large dark stain and the rips in Natsuki's light blue dress shirt. "Oh my God! Natsuki what happened?" Mai exclaimed as she quickly rushed over to her friend's side, gently putting one of Natsuki's arms around her shoulders and leaning against her to support the dark haired girl's weight. "Come on; let's get you into the bathroom so I can clean that up for you alright?"

Natsuki nodded weakly, allowing the orange haired girl to help her down the short hall. "Just go ahead and get your shirt off alright?" Mai said as she helped Natsuki sit down on the bench next to the showerheads, "I brought a first aid kit with me but I think it's still packed in a box under my bed. It should only take me a couple minutes to get it, try not to move around too much."

"Sure. Thanks Mai." Natsuki replied softly, just allowing herself to sit still for a moment.

"Hey it's no problem, I'll be right back."

The Slayer watched with tired green eyes as Mai rushed out of the bathroom to grab the first aid kit. _Great she's never even seen me without long sleeves on; I'm going to have some explaining to do. Guess I'll have to tell Midori about two more people who know at least part of my secret after tonight._ She sighed as she looked at her shredded blue dress shirt and grass and blood-stained khaki pants in the floor length mirror. _And that's what I get for not changing out of my nice clothes before slaying._ She shrugged as she simply reached up and ripped her shirt open, smiling sadly as the nice buttons scattered across the blue and white tile. The Slayer winced a bit as she peeled the scraps of cloth from the clotted wounds.

Natsuki smirked at her reflection; the black bra did nothing to hide the extent of the scarring on her upper body. The long deep black scars on her chest and forearms were impossible to miss even with only a casual glance. _Ugh, I really am kindof a freak. _She couldn't imagine Mai not having questions when she saw them. The Slayer heard a startled gasp and the clanging of metal on the tiled floor and looked up to see that Mai had returned. Her roommate was standing in the door holding a bowl of water and some washcloths, staring at Natsuki with a shocked expression on her face. _I guess it's too much to hope that she was just awestruck by how amazingly hot I am._

"Hey Mai." She said softly, hoping to get the orange haired girl to look her in the eye. Mai raised guilty looking blue-grey eyes to Natsuki's, her cheeks suspiciously flushed. _Heh, well maybe she does think I'm at least a little hot after all._ "I know you're enjoying the view, but I'm still bleeding here." She teased her friend, gesturing to the gashes in her abdomen just to the left of her bellybutton. She chuckled as Mai's cheeks blushed redder.

"Gah, Natsuki don't change the subject." Mai scolded as she retrieved the first aid kit from the floor. "What happened to you? The scars! And when did you get those wounds on your stomach anyway, they look like they're starting to heal already."

The Slayer glanced at the wounds from the demon's claws and saw that sure enough, the edges of them were already beginning to pinken, showing signs of healing even though they were bleeding again where she had reopened them when removing her shirt. She sighed and looked back to meet Mai's concerned gaze, "Do you want the truth?" She asked quietly, "If it's something unpleasant? Even if it's something that will change your life completely? ...and maybe not for the better."

Mai stepped closer, kneeling down in front of Natsuki to get a clearer look at her wounds. "This is probably going to sting." She said apologetically, holding a damp washcloth. At Natsuki's indifferent shrug, she began gently cleaning the three gashes wincing sympathetically as she got a better look at how deep they were. "You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to Natsuki. But if you'd feel better if you could tell me... and I think I'd feel better if I knew..." Mai trailed off awkwardly, desperately wanting an explanation but reluctant to pry if it would make her friend feel uncomfortable.

The Slayer was again impressed by Mai's thoughtfulness; she really had lucked out in the roommate department. She could just imagine having been saddled with someone like Haruka or even Chie. She watched for a moment as Mai carefully and tenderly cleaned her wounds, much more gently than even Midori would have. Not that Midori wasn't careful of course; she was just less hesitant and didn't make a big deal over wounds like this. Basically if the wound didn't require a hospital visit, Midori hardly even commented. Maybe it was because Midori already knew what she was, so she treated Natsuki like a Slayer and not like just a girl? Or maybe Midori just wasn't as much of a _mom_ as Mai. Natsuki tried not to laugh at that thought, since she was getting ready to tell her friend something life-changing and laughing would really set the wrong tone. "Well... It's a long story. To start somewhere, I got that wound earlier tonight, about forty minutes ago."

Mai looked up into Natsuki's eyes, her gaze searching, "Natsuki, I've put enough band-aids on my little brother to know the difference between a fresh wound and one that has been healing for a couple days. Those wounds have had much longer than forty minutes to heal."

Natsuki sighed; this was going to take a demonstration. "Mai, back up really quick."

"Huh? Why?"

"Just humour me for a minute alright? I have to show you something so that you'll understand." Natsuki was impressed that her friend wasn't just taking her word for it; but she was just so tired from tonight. Still, Mai deserved an explanation if she was going to be coming home injured too often, and Natsuki feared with the new threat looming that might be the case. When Mai had backed up a bit Natsuki nodded that she was far enough away. "Alright, now watch this carefully because I don't want to do this more than once tonight okay?"

At Mai's nod the Slayer extended out her left fist so that the back of her hand was facing in Mai's direction. Concentrating she slowly extended her claws, watching as her friend's blue-grey eyes widened and blinked rapidly a few times, unable to believe what they were seeing. She sighed as she watched yet more of her blood dripping on the floor. "I don't heal like a normal person because I'm not normal." Natsuki explained briefly before retracting her claws rapidly, walking over to Mai and offering her the hand so that she could watch as the wounds between her knuckles completely healed right before her eyes. "My other wounds don't heal that quickly, but I still heal faster than a normal human."

Mai stood there staring for a moment, but Natsuki was impressed by how quickly her friend recovered, telling her to go sit back down. "So... are you like a...a... mutant or something?" Mai questioned, trying to keep her tone polite as she finished bandaging Natsuki's wounds. "All done. Try to be careful with it though, they look like they could still reopen if you try to be too active."

"Thank you Mai. And no, not a mutant." Natsuki looked into her friend's eyes, "This is going to sound even crazier than what I just showed you, but you'll have to trust me because as you can see from my wounds, a demonstration would be dangerous." Mai nodded. "I guess the technical term for what I am is a 'Vampire Slayer'. Yes, this means that there are vampires, so please be careful if you happen to be outside after dark. Try to make sure you are with at least a few other friends, preferably me." Natsuki sighed as she continued, "Anyway, the reason I exist is to try and keep the numbers of vampires and demons running around down. Unfortunately that means that some of them figure out who I am and that makes me a target, so sometimes they come hunting me instead of me hunting them. A demon got the drop on me tonight when I only had my claws for weapons."

Mai reached up and traced the cool metal of the cross that rested on Natsuki's chest, "Is that why you wear this every day?"

The Slayer raised an eyebrow at her roommate's calm question even as her skin tingled in a pleasantly distracting way at her friend's touch, "I tell you that there are vampires and demons, and you ask about my taste in jewellery?"

Mai just shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe I'm in shock or something and I'll start with the hysterics later."

"You're kindof a strange girl Mai." Natsuki said with a laugh. "Um, so you want some gossipy information? You can't tell _anyone_ though or I might have to kill them. Which means you can tell Tate or Takeda if you want." She joked as her friend grinned, her eyes sparkling with interest, "That's why Midori is my guardian too."

"...because there are vampires?" She asked, confused.

"Um... I guess, in a manner of speaking. She's my Watcher. That means she helps train me to be a better Slayer and helps me with finding out information on the threats I face. She wasn't just an archaeologist either; she was hunting for magickal and demonic artefacts that could be very dangerous in the wrong hands." Natsuki grinned at the awestruck look on friend's face, "Yeah, Midori is even cooler than everyone thinks she is."

Mai nodded, finally starting to look overwhelmed, "And you're a superhero?"

"Yeah, but I don't have some ridiculous henshin cut scene or something where I magically transform into a slut in a miniskirt and fuck me boots or something." When Mai just looked confused, she clarified, "Sorry. Midori is kindof a big fan of Sailor Moon and Magical Girl anime in general. Which is really funny considering she already has me. What, am I not good enough because I don't wear glitter?"

Natsuki paused in her joking when she noticed the glazed over blank look on Mai's face. "Hey... Mai let's just get to bed for now. If you have more questions about what I said, you can ask Midori on Saturday alright? I'm already out to Fujikawa so it's alright to talk about this stuff around him. He and Yohko-sensei from the hospital are normally the ones in charge of patching me up." Natsuki smiled when Mai nodded and followed her out into the main room. "Did you want me to get you some hot tea or something?"

By the time the two roommates finally got to bed it was rather late indeed. Natsuki was just glad that tomorrow was Friday. She hoped Midori wouldn't stress out too much over the news she needed to tell her. The new demon threat appearing more organized than they were used to, Mai being added to the Slayer's 'inner circle' and Reito potentially making a petty nuisance of himself was a lot more to add to her Watcher's already busy schedule. She wondered if maybe she should try and get in touch with RedWiccan on the Hellmouth Online message boards. Maybe she could help with researching this demon threat without her having to give any details about the ancient glow or being a Slayer.


	7. Chapter 7

DISCLAIMER: Still not mine.

(( AN: Dear readers and reviewers, I have decided that you all have been very patient and kind to me with reviewing even though I have been leaving you all hanging on a certain issue since I posted the first chapter. ^^ This chapter, posted so quickly after my last update, is a bit of a reward to you all for your patience. I worked on this for you my dear readers, pretty much all day yesterday so that I could get this to you while it was still the weekend. A bit of a thank you from me to you just to let you know that I really appreciate you all. I hope you enjoy! ^^ ))

St. Peter's High School; Saturday April 8, 2000

"What should I wear?" Mai asked, sounding suspiciously panicky.

Natsuki laughed, "Relax Mai, this isn't a job interview or something."

"But she's my teacher! I don't want her to think that I'm not serious enough about working hard because I didn't dress nice enough..."

"Mai. Look at what I'm wearing." Natsuki gestured to her ratty blue jeans and long sleeve black t-shirt with the words "This end up" and an appropriate directional arrow on the front. The shirt was threadbare enough in places that one could easily make out the Slayer's tanned skin through it. "Now... I'm not only wearing this because I'm a lazy slob and don't care how I dress. I'm also wearing it because we're going to visit Midori today to help her move her stuff into a new apartment. I said I wouldn't make you move heavy stuff, and I won't, but my point is that no one else is going to be dressed up any more than I am."

Mai blushed and finally just decided to stick with the designer jeans and nice white babydoll style t-shirt that she was wearing. "Are you sure that _you_ should be doing heavy-lifting today since you were hurt the other day?"

The Slayer pulled up her shirt to reveal the mostly healed up wounds on her toned stomach. "I'll be fine." She grinned as Mai blushed again and looked away awkwardly. "Oh, one thing you might want is a jacket, preferably leather if you have it." She added, as she went over to one of her still unpacked boxes to fish something out of it.

"Is it supposed to be cold or rain today?"

"Nope." Natsuki replied shortly as she walked over to hand Mai her spare helmet. It was the same black full-helmet with visor style as hers. "This is why you might want the jacket."

"Um... Natsuki-chan... that's a motorcycle helmet." Mai's voice trembled a bit as she stated the obvious. "Why are you handing me this?"

"Because I don't want you to get hurt, and also I don't want to give the cops a reason to pull me over."

"You're underage..."

Natsuki pulled her wallet out of the inside pocket of her black leather jacket and opened it to reveal the fake ID that said she was seventeen. She handed it to Mai whose eyes bugged out comically at the sight. "Natsuki-chan... how do you have a fake ID?"

"Midori got it for me." Natsuki laughed at the horrified look Mai gave her, "Hey don't look at me like she's being irresponsible. I'm a Slayer; the end of the world won't always wait for me to catch the bus."

"You promise you know how to ride it safely?"

The Slayer looked at her friend with serious eyes, "I'll keep you safe Mai."

Mai blushed again, "Thank you Natsuki. What about the brownies though?"

"Just bring your backpack to put them in." Natsuki suggested as she put on her boots so that they could head out.

Fifteen minutes later Natsuki was sitting astride her Kawasaki Ninja while Mai stood next to her gazing at the Slayer nervously, her helmet still in her hands. "Natsuki-chan, I'm scared. I've never done something like this before." Mai admitted.

Natsuki tried to smile reassuringly at her friend, but the expression was mostly lost behind her helmet's visor. "All you have to do is climb on and hold on tight to me. If there's a curve just lean in the same direction I do. You shouldn't have to think about that part too much if you're holding on tight enough though. I promise I'll ride really careful since you're with me." She explained, her voice sounding far away or maybe underwater thanks to the helmet.

Finally Mai nodded slightly, and put her own helmet on. She took one more deep breath and climbed onto the dark blue motorcycle behind Natsuki, wrapping her arms carefully around her friend's waist. "Tighter than that, I'm a Slayer so it's impossible to squish me. Don't worry; my stomach really doesn't hurt anymore either." Mai gripped a little tighter at the admonishment, and then let out a startled squeak and gripped much harder when Natsuki fired up the bike's engine.

By the time they reached the Fujino estate, Mai was grinning wildly and having a great time. "Natsuki-chan, that was awesome!" She exclaimed as she removed her helmet and shook out her hair. "I can see why you enjoy it so much now, it's like flying!"

Natsuki smiled at the gleaming excitement in her friend's eyes. "I'm glad you had fun. We'll be taking it back to the dorm once we get back from Midori's apartment too. We're meeting her here instead of there because I just wanted to make sure she didn't need any help getting anything into the moving van last minute. And to bring her donuts." She laughed as she gestured to Mai's backpack that had the donuts they'd picked up at the campus convenience store before they left as well as the brownies for later. _So much sugary goodness in one day! _

"I can't believe you used to live here." Mai said as they crossed the estate from the garage where Natsuki had parked her motorcycle to the small house on the edge of the property. Natsuki had lived almost half of her life here with Midori.

Natsuki looked over the huge mansion and professionally landscaped gardens that seemed so empty, "I can hardly believe it either, it seems almost like that was another life these days you know?" She grinned when she saw the tacky looking rented moving truck parked on the perfect green lawn next to her old house. "I'm really glad that Midori is at least keeping all of our old furniture though. It will make her new place seem more like home."

The Slayer smiled at seeing the sliding door to the dojo standing wide open, and gestured to Mai that she should follow her inside. Glancing around she frowned at seeing all of her training equipment packed up and wondered for the first time where she and Midori were going to do their Watcher/Slayer training now that they didn't have this dojo anymore. "Midori?" She called out as they entered the living area of the house.

"Natsuki! I'm glad you got here. I needed some help getting these bookcases in the truck. I finally got all the books packed up last night, I didn't want to pack them too soon and then need one." Midori said as she walked out of her old room, "Oh, good morning Tokiha-san. It's great to have you along for this little adventure today."

"It is no problem Sugiura-sensei." Mai replied shyly.

"Hey now, none of that today. My name is Midori outside of class alright? That sensei stuff makes me feel old." Midori grinned.

Natsuki laughed, "Alright Watcher, stop making my friend nervous. Let's hurry up and get the bookcases in the truck so we can eat donuts! The jelly one is mine by the way." When Midori gave her a startled look at the use of her title Natsuki rolled her eyes, "Yeah she knows. Some demon injured me on Thursday and Mai had to patch me up."

"Well thank you then for looking out for my careless Slayer." Midori teased, though she held blue-grey eyes for a moment to express her sincerity.

Mai shrugged, "It was no problem, I don't mind helping Natsuki-chan. Um... If you all wanted I could make coffee while you get the bookcases moved out?"

"That'd be great Mai thanks." Natsuki grinned as she and Midori headed into the old room to get the last of the redhead's things loaded onto the truck. "Hey Midori, it just occurred to me to wonder where we're going to be doing training now?"

"The school administration gave me keys to all of the dojos on campus of course. We can set up training times when they aren't in use. Most of your training wouldn't make anyone wonder if you had superpowers or anything, so it should be safe even if people were to walk in."

Natsuki almost dropped the end of the bookcase she was carrying, "Midori, you've got to be shitting me, there's no way someone could watch one of my training sessions and not get at least a little suspicious."

Midori grunted a bit at the sudden extra weight, struggling not to laugh, "Hah... yeah actually I was. But I wanted it to be a surprise so be a patient little Slayer for a bit longer alright?"

An hour later Midori was skilfully backing the rented truck up onto the sidewalk in front of her new apartment building. "Well here we are, home sweet home."

"It looks nice enough I guess." Natsuki said as she looked up at the seven-story high grey cement apartment building just a few blocks from the hospital where Yohko and Fujikawa worked. "What floor are you on?"

"The basement." Midori answered with a grin.

"I didn't know they rented out rooms on the basement level of buildings like this?" Mai asked, puzzled.

"Well it's possible that I asked good old Hiro to use some yen to pull a few strings."

"Why would you want an apartment in the basement anyway?" Natsuki teased, poking her Watcher in the side as they walked to the door of the building each carrying a few boxes, or in Mai's case just one box. "You're not dating a vampire or something?"

"You see how little she respects me Mai-san?" Midori pouted. Mai just giggled nervously, not willing to weigh in on that debate.

They reached the bottom of the stairs and headed down a short hallway to a wooden door with the kanji for 'green' and a large tiger painted on the front. Natsuki laughed, "I'll take it this is the place?"

"Yep, welcome to my den girlies." Midori grinned, shifting the boxes she was carrying to one arm so she could unlock the door. Kicking it open she gestured to the other two to head inside as she reached in to flick on the light switch by the door.

Taking a look around, Natsuki immediately felt right at home. The floor plan was rather similar to their old place, other than the general lack of windows and the less traditional look of the walls and doors. There was the main sitting room and kitchen combination separated by a bar style counter, and a short hallway leading to what Natsuki presumed were the two bedrooms and bath. The apartment walls were painted the standard off-white, but Natsuki was pleased that the wall to wall carpeting was midnight blue and the tile and countertops in the kitchen were a dark coal grey. _Good decorating taste. _She was surprised to notice that the entertainment system was already set up, with the old leather couch against the wall in front of it. The bookshelves that held their books about anything non-slaying related, as well as their sizable movie and anime collection were also set up against the far wall on either side of a nondescript door.

"Oh Hirotaka helped me start getting some of the stuff moved in on Wednesday night. He was home in between business trips, and he just couldn't bring himself to sleep in the house... you know after what happened. So we stayed up late moving some things that I wouldn't need for the rest of the week and then went out to a pub at midnight to have a drink to celebrate me getting just a little closer to the dreaded forty." Midori winced.

Putting the boxes she was carrying down by the couch, Natsuki walked over and gave her Watcher a hug. "Hey, you'll never get old. And that was nice of you to keep Fujino-san company to help keep his mind off things."

Midori shrugged awkwardly, "Eh yah well, I really did need help moving all this stuff too. Anyway you want to go head up and start grabbing things out of the truck?"

Later that afternoon, once everything had been brought inside and the moving truck returned to the rental place, the five friends were all resting in the sitting room, attempting to agree on a movie. "I still think we should watch Gladiator. Come on Natsuki, isn't that something you would be into?" Fujikawa begged.

"Please, you don't think she sees enough violence all the time? We should watch a comedy, maybe even something with a little romance in it." Mai complained, earning Yohko's agreement.

Natsuki just sat on the couch leaning her head on her Watcher's shoulder as she laughed at her friends' antics. "This is a really nice place."

"I'm glad you like it." Midori commented sleepily as she struggled to keep her eyes open. "Ugh, I knew I shouldn't have stayed up all night researching that energy being. It's just so frustrating that I haven't been able to find reference to it in any of my research texts or indeed even online."

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. You just started a new job you've never done before, and you've had to worry about packing up our seven years worth of crap to move into a new place. I know you'll figure out what's up with my incorporeal new friend." Natsuki gazed up into her Watcher's tired looking eyes, "I actually did run into something kindof weird on Thursday night though. Have you ever heard of a demon poofing like a vampire when you slay it?"

"Poofing?" Midori asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Erm... you know, the body kindof disintegrating. Like vampires explode into dust. Only this demon didn't so much explode into dust, as it exploded into a golden light. It didn't even leave anything behind like vampires do."

Hazel eyes suddenly seemed much more awake, sparkling with interest. "Didn't leave even a trace you say? That is most unusual indeed." Natsuki just smiled, enjoying seeing Midori's brain at work.

"Maybe we should watch Dragonheart. I love dragons." Mai suggested.

"No, that has Sean Connery in it and Midori's on the twelve step program to get over her old man fetish." Yohko teased.

"Huh...what?" Midori questioned, brought out of her pondering by Yohko mentioning her name, gazing at the blue eyed doctor with confusion on her face. Yohko rolled her eyes but smiled at the redhead affectionately.

"I still say we should watch Gladiator." Fujikawa interjected as he sipped at his can of beer.

Natsuki let out a loud sigh and got up from her spot on the couch. "Jesus, you people are hopeless." She complained dramatically, heading over to the video collection and removing a well worn VHS tape before walking over and shoving it in the VCR and pushing play.

"Uh... what are we watching?" Mai asked, slightly annoyed that Natsuki had just picked something without asking anyone else what they thought about it.

"Terminator 2. Sarah Connor kindof reminds me of Midori."

"She reminds you of Midori?" Yohko asked her voice fairly dripping with sarcasm.

Natsuki grinned, "Well yeah. If there was a psychotic robot out to kill me, Midori would totally go after it with a huge shotgun." Everyone laughed as Midori blushed a bit, before trying to distract them by offering to go make popcorn.

While they were watching the movie Natsuki again turned to Midori, "Hey Midori, what's through that door anyway?" She asked, pointing to the plain wooden door in between their bookcases. "Just a storage closet or...?"

Midori just grinned at her Slayer for a moment, "Come with me and I'll show you." She answered standing and offering Natsuki a hand up. The Slayer raised a questioning eyebrow at her Watcher, but nonetheless grabbed the offered hand and allowed herself to be pulled off of the couch and over to the door. "Close your eyes for a minute." Natsuki rolled her eyes but allowed her Watcher her whim, green eyes fluttering closed.

Grinning Midori put her other hand over the Slayer's eyes, not trusting her to not take a peek, before easing the door open. She led Natsuki slowly into the next room, turning on the overhead lights as they went, before gently removing her rough palm from in front of the Slayer's eyes. "Alright, you can open them now." She murmured.

Natsuki slowly opened her eyes, blinking slightly at the bright overhead lights and gasping when she took in the large room. "Oh my God, Midori..." She trailed off. It was a training room set up to look almost like their old dojo, with dark midnight blue gymnastic mats on the floor and a huge mural of a white wolf howling at a full moon on the far wall. The other walls were gleaming with various weapons of all shapes and sizes; crossbows, knives, blunt weapons, polearms, battleaxes, swords of cultures from all over the world. She wandered over to run her fingers over the warm black stone of the huge battleaxe that she had taken from a demon years ago. "Midori... I don't know what to say." She finally tried again, her voice breaking as she turned to look her Watcher in the eye, "It's perfect. I love it." She managed to force out, before running over and pulling the redhead into a breath-stealing hug. "Thank you so much."

Midori just shrugged and hugged the Slayer back, for the moment unable to spare enough oxygen to reply. "I'm pleased that you like it." Was her slightly breathless comment when Natsuki finally loosened her grip a bit. "I don't suppose you'd want to get in some sparring practice with your old Watcher before you and Mai head back to campus?" She asked, suddenly feeling more full of energy than she had a couple hours ago. Natsuki just grinned and went to go grab two katana off the wall, feeling more relaxed about the upcoming year now that she'd seen that even if some things had changed, the important things were still the same.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

"_You look at something and you think you know exactly what you're seeing, and then you find out it's something else entirely."_

St. Peter's High School; Monday April 10, 2000

Natsuki stood awkwardly in the door to the Student Council room holding a bouquet of irises. Shizuru was sitting at one of the desks near the back of the room, discussing something with Reito and Haruka. They hadn't yet noticed the Slayer standing in the doorway watching Shizuru nervously. Natsuki couldn't believe her bad luck. She had been trying to find time to talk to Shizuru since school started, and now when she finally had the courage to take her the flowers Mai had suggested, Shizuru was hanging out with the friends that disliked Natsuki the most. The Slayer stood watching for another few minutes when Haruka looked up and grimaced at the sight of Natsuki.

"What are _you_ doing here?" The blonde asked annoyance clear in her voice.

Natsuki however never took her eyes off of Shizuru, who was still looking down at the paper that she was writing on. "I'm here to see my best friend." She said, smiling shyly when Shizuru looked up, startled by the unexpected sound of Natsuki's voice. "Hey Shizuru." She spoke her friend's name hesitantly, "Come for a walk with me?" She held out the flowers to her friend, hoping that she would accept the peace offering.

"Natsuki?" Shizuru's voice was quiet, her eyes blinking rapidly a few times as though she couldn't believe she was really seeing Natsuki here in the Student Council room. She walked up to Natsuki and accepted the offered flowers with a soft thank you, moving to put them in water. "I am surprised that Natsuki wanted to see me." She admitted.

"You're my best friend Shizuru; I always want to see you." Natsuki replied, confused. Then glancing at Reito and Haruka who were clearly listening to their conversation she added, "Why don't we wait and discuss things while we take our walk? Or at least we could go somewhere else...?"

Shizuru nodded slowly, apparently just now getting over the surprise of seeing Natsuki enough to remember that they weren't alone. "That would be acceptable, thank you Natsuki." She lifted the flowers that were now in a plain drinking glass that had been stored in one of the room's cabinets, "Perhaps Natsuki could come with me to my dorm room to drop these off?"

Natsuki nodded as they headed out the door into the white marble floored hallway, "Sure. I actually dropped those off here because I realized I didn't even know what room was yours." She blushed, slightly ashamed to not know such basic information about her best friend.

"I confess that I also do not know Natsuki's room number. I live in this building actually, all Student Council members who have elected positions higher than class representative do." Shizuru explained.

The Slayer's eyes widened in mostly feigned horror. "So you mean this is a co-ed dormitory as well as being where Student Council and Model UN meet? Reito lives here too?" _Shizuru lives in the same building as boys? The same building as _REITO? _Why didn't I know this?_ Natsuki shook her head trying to clear her feelings of rage and jealousy at the horrible notion of Reito living so much closer to Shizuru than she did.

"Well yes," Shizuru replied as they reached the stairwell, "On different floors though. It's nothing improper or anything, it's not like my roommate is a boy." Shizuru giggled at that notion.

Natsuki was hardly amused, "Who is your roommate then? ...Not Haruka?"

Shizuru raised an eyebrow at Natsuki, "Why yes actually, I am rooming with Haruka-san this year. Is that a problem for Natsuki?"

"Um... Shizuru, you know Haruka hates me right? That makes it awkward for me to come visit you if she lives there too." Natsuki explained, even though she thought her friend should know this. When Shizuru indicated that the third floor was her stop, Natsuki held open the door to the hallway for her.

"Thank you Natsuki. And I'm surprised that Natsuki would allow Haruka to intimidate her so."

"She doesn't intimidate me; I would just prefer not to have to deal with her is all. And anyway, I'd only let her stop me if you still didn't want to see me..." Natsuki trailed off, not wanting to sound like she was fishing for pity.

"Natsuki... I..." Shizuru sighed, reaching the door to her room. "Would Natsuki mind if I dropped these inside and then we can continue this conversation outside in the garden? I feel it would go better in sunlight."

Natsuki smiled at how some things never changed, "Sure Shizuru, I'll wait here." She leaned against the wall outside Shizuru's door, wondering why her friend didn't seem to be acting the way Natsuki would have expected. Shizuru didn't seem like she was angry or avoiding Natsuki at all.

"Thank you for waiting Natsuki. Shall we head outside? Perhaps we could even visit the greenhouse; I hear that the horticulture department has a lovely orchid collection." Shizuru rambled awkwardly.

"Sure Shizuru, that sounds great." Natsuki gave her friend an encouraging smile, gesturing for her to lead the way.

They walked in tense silence from Shizuru's dorm to the huge greenhouse on campus, Shizuru holding open the ornate glass door for Natsuki when they reached it. "Let me show you my favourite place in here." Shizuru said quietly, leading the way past the various rosebushes, hyacinths and exotic flowering trees. They ended up in a small alcove near the back. A large artificial tree loomed high against the glass of the greenhouse, in front of it was a small rock bottomed pond with a small trickling waterfall. Lining the artificial tree all the way to the glass ceiling were dozens upon dozens of orchids, many of them in full bloom.

"It's beautiful here." Natsuki said as they sat down on the stone wall next to the pond. She smiled as a small turtle paddled over and pulled himself up on a nearby mossy rock, peering up at them obviously assuming that they were here to feed him. "Thank you for showing me this place Shizuru, I didn't realize there was something like this on campus."

Shizuru shrugged, "I found it last year and it seemed like a place that Natsuki would enjoy." She gazed at the various orchids, seemingly unable to make eye contact with Natsuki. "I used to come here a lot last year when I missed getting to spend enough time with you."

"Last year huh?" Natsuki asked sadly.

Shizuru finally turned to meet Natsuki's eyes, "Natsuki..." She reached out and hesitantly took one of Natsuki's hands in hers, "I owe you an apology."

Green eyes widened, "But Shizuru... I know I pushed you too hard to talk before you were ready, it was my fault..."

Shizuru shook her head, "No, it was not Natsuki's fault." She let out a shaky sigh, "I mean yes you might have pushed me a little more than I was ready for, but I know that you weren't trying to hurt me. You were just being yourself, and I shouldn't have gotten angry with you for that. Especially when that is one of the things I value most about Natsuki's friendship. She is always only herself with me." She looked away guiltily, "And... I wasn't even really angry with you for that anyway, or over anything at all."

"Are you sure?" Natsuki asked raising her eyebrow sceptically at her friend, "You know Shizuru, it's alright to let me know if I've upset you. If you don't tell me I won't know not to do it again."

"Natsuki... if anything I am the one who acted wrongly." She looked back into her friend's eyes, her own swirling blood red with emotions, "I just... until I lost her I guess I never really understood that death is forever..." She trailed off as she tried to get her thoughts together, "It seems ridiculous that I wouldn't have realized that before, since I always knew that. But while I was still home over break... I kept expecting to see her when I walked into the library, or to hear her come into my room in the middle of the night to check up on me." Shizuru sighed, "We were hardly even close at all for most of my life... but having it sink in that I'll really never see her again... it hit me harder than I thought it would. I guess because until I lost her I didn't truly understand."

Natsuki tried to give Shizuru's hand in hers a comforting squeeze, but the words she came up with weren't as comforting as she would have liked, "I don't really know what to say... I mean, most days I still have a hard time accepting that I'll never see my mother again." She shrugged helplessly, "I mean it's strange because some days I even have a hard time remembering exactly what her face looked like. But some part of me is always expecting to see her again." She sighed softly, "And I guess I do worry a lot that I'm going to lose someone else."

Shizuru nodded slowly, "That's why I was avoiding you." She confessed, "I just inevitably started thinking about how I would feel if I lost you... Your life is so dangerous most of the time." Natsuki glanced away to look at the turtle, hoping that somehow Shizuru wouldn't read in her eyes just how dangerous the Slayer's life was at the moment. Fortunately for Natsuki, Shizuru was studying her own hands nervously and didn't notice her friend's guilty behaviour. "And I guess that got me thinking about how I really don't have any friends other than Natsuki."

Green eyes immediately returned to Shizuru, "What do you mean you don't have any friends other than me? You have more friends than I do."

Shizuru shook her head, "Natsuki is the only one who knows me." She sighed as she reached out to brush a strand of dark hair out of Natsuki's eyes, "I've never been able to be open with anyone but Natsuki... When I'm around anyone but Natsuki I feel like I have to be someone else. Well, sometimes I feel like I can be myself around Midori-san, but it is awkward for me to go see her."

"You don't have to feel awkward Shizuru, Midori likes spending time with you. She cares about you a lot."

Shizuru shrugged, "But Midori-san is only Natsuki's in some ways. And I couldn't ever see her without always thinking of Natsuki... being able to see Midori-san if I had lost Natsuki would not help." Shizuru gazed into Natsuki's eyes begging her to try and understand, "So I guess that's why these last few weeks I've been working so hard at trying to make other friends... It's just not working though. I can't connect with anyone but Natsuki that way it seems."

Natsuki nodded slowly, her eyes soft with compassion, "Well, who have you been trying to make friends with? Maybe you just haven't found the right kind of people that you'd get along with." Natsuki's eyebrows scrunched together as she tried to find the right words, "I mean... what is it about me that makes it so that you can be friends with me?"

Shizuru giggled lightly, "Is Natsuki suggesting that I should try to befriend other Vampire Slayers?"

Natsuki rolled her eyes, but couldn't help grinning, "Well if that's the only thing that allows you to be friends with me, then I'll admit I'm a tough act to follow. But really though, I know my being a Slayer is one of the things you _don't_ really like about me because it causes you to worry about my safety all the time."

Shizuru nodded and tried to answer the question seriously, "I don't know... I guess I just feel like Natsuki would never laugh at me no matter what I had to say, unless she knew we were joking you know? I know that Natsuki cares about what I like, even if it's something silly like arcade games..."

"Shizuru, these are not insanely unreasonable friendship criteria. I think that someone who cares about the things you do and takes your opinion seriously... well that's kindof minimum requirements there you know?" Natsuki sighed, "Do you think you'd have time this year to join another club besides just Student Council?"

Shizuru raised an eyebrow, "Well not too much time technically, but I'm sure I could manage somehow. Why?"

"Well Shizuru... please don't take this comment the wrong way alright?" At her friend's nod and slight smirk Natsuki continued, "Um... Well... Student Council kids are our society's future politicians. And I think if you've ever watched the news or something, you might gather that politicians maybe don't make the best friends?" Natsuki hastened to explain, "Now, I don't think you're like the others at all. You're like that one elected representative who would actually care about their constituents instead of just gaining power and fame or whatever, but most of them just aren't like that. Most of them only care about themselves and what looks good... and you're really not that kind of person."

Shizuru blushed, "Natsuki says nice things about me."

"They're true Shizuru. What you need is to join a club related to something you're really interested in. I'd suggest either choir... Or drama club." Natsuki nodded firmly, pleased with her own suggestions.

"Choir...? Or drama club...?" Shizuru repeated an adorably confused look in her rusty eyes, her forehead wrinkled slightly as she contemplated the unexpected suggestions.

Natsuki giggled at how cute Shizuru looked when she was confused, it wasn't a look she got to see on Shizuru very often after all. "Well yeah. You're a wonderful singer and you also seem to really enjoy acting." Natsuki poked her friend on the nose, "I know how you like to fake pout at me. You'd be a natural. And since you love to read so much, you'd know most of the plays or musicals or whatever that they would be putting on." Natsuki grinned, "And plus then I'd get to come watch your performances. Also I already offer my services helping set up any heavy stage props or anything so you could spend more time with me...?" Natsuki blushed at suggesting that. "I mean if you want to... I know you're trying to make other friends but..." She shrugged helplessly, "I just miss you."

"Natsuki..." Shizuru murmured her eyes slightly misty, "I'm really sorry. I know it was wrong for me to be avoiding you..."

Natsuki shrugged, "I know... but I understand what you're saying too. Your concerns about that make a lot of sense; you do need other real friends besides just me. Even if my life weren't more dangerous than most, it couldn't be healthy for anyone to be so isolated." She looked up into Shizuru's eyes through dark lashes, "But maybe we could get together once a week or so for coffee or something? Just to catch up?"

Shizuru smiled softly, "I'd like that." Her smile turned into a wicked grin, "And I'll totally ask Natsuki to help us move heavy stuff if that becomes necessary."

Natsuki paused as she thought of one more thing, "Shizuru... just do me one favour if you decide to try out for drama team alright?"

"What's that Natsuki?" Shizuru asked, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Well... just don't tell Reito about it until tryouts are over."

Shizuru looked puzzled at that, "Why would Natsuki not want Reito-san to know about my joining drama team?"

Natsuki shrugged, "Well... I just wouldn't want him to join too..." She looked down at her hands shyly as she blushed, "I think I'd want to kill him if he got to kiss you. Even if it was just acting."

"Oh." Shizuru tried to make a teasing expression, but Natsuki noticed that she also looked a bit disgusted at the notion of kissing Reito. Natsuki smirked inwardly. "Why would that make Natsuki upset?"

"Well for one, he's Reito." Natsuki shrugged, "He's just not nearly good enough for you is all."

Shizuru nodded slowly, speaking with what seemed to be forced sincerity, "I see... Well I am glad I have Natsuki to look out for my best interests as far as potential suitors are concerned then."

"Of course!" Natsuki puffed up seriously, missing the nuance in Shizuru's statement entirely, "I don't want just any loser thinking he's worthy of you."

Shizuru grinned, "Well I promise I won't let any of the Student Council know ahead of time." She leaned in closer as though sharing a secret, "Besides, I am not so confident in my acting ability that I think I could convince a whole audience of my romantic interest in Reito-san."

Natsuki giggled, sounding unexpectedly girlish, "Thanks Shizuru. Sorry that I'm silly about things like that."

Rusty eyes softened as Shizuru stopped the teasing for a moment, "I don't mind that Natsuki cares that I am happy." Shizuru glanced at her small gold watch, "Did Natsuki want to go get that coffee now?"

"Uh sure... but didn't you need to get back to working on whatever Student Council thing you were doing when I interrupted you?" Natsuki asked, looking slightly confused.

"Well I had planned on it, but then someone convinced me that I should reconsider my priorities." Shizuru smiled teasingly, "Besides, Haruka-san always complains that I never trust her to do anything right. This will be the perfect opportunity for her to prove that she is right and that I should allow her more responsibility."

The Slayer smirked, "Well I can't say I can argue with giving Haruka more work."

"Natsuki really shouldn't give Haruka-san such a hard time, she's not a bad girl."

Natsuki shrugged, "She's never really liked me."

"I think that Haruka-san is jealous of Natsuki." Shizuru said softly.

"You think so?" Natsuki asked. She generally trusted Shizuru to have good judgement of people, even if her priorities with making friends were a little off. Shizuru was strange that way, she could see the best in people but she didn't seem to be able to put her own happiness first without prodding.

"She thinks that Natsuki has it easy." At Natsuki's amused snort, Shizuru smiled, "Obviously she's misinformed, but from her perspective it's been too easy for you to become close friends with me."

"Huh?"

Shizuru shrugged, "I think that Haruka-san can tell that I treat Natsuki differently from everyone else, and she doesn't see what you've done to earn it."

"Why _do_ you treat me differently than Haruka-san?" Natsuki asked, suddenly wondering why Shizuru wouldn't consider Haruka to be a closer friend than she did.

Shizuru blinked in surprise at the question, as though it was only just now occurring to her to wonder. "I guess that I always considered her to be a family friend. Something of an obligation. My mother and hers were 'friends'. Not friends like Natsuki and I, but friends like Reito-san and I. You know Natsuki, I suppose it's possible that maybe I haven't been giving Haruka-san a good enough chance either. I guess I had been viewing her as someone who was my mother's, where Natsuki was someone who is just mine."

Natsuki nodded thoughtfully even as she blushed slightly at Shizuru's words, "Maybe you should talk to her? Let her know how you feel, maybe even apologize a little."

"Thank you Natsuki, that is wonderful advice." Shizuru smiled, "I still want to spend time with Natsuki this afternoon though."

Natsuki grinned, "Sounds great!" She stood, pulling Shizuru to her feet with her. "...You know if caffeine isn't your beverage of choice we could go somewhere else if you wanted?" Natsuki questioned shyly, as she realized she hadn't really asked Shizuru what she might want to do.

Shizuru just smiled sweetly at her friend as she followed her outside, "Anywhere with Natsuki is perfect for me today." She laughed as Natsuki blushed brightly. "Thank you for coming to talk to me today, I don't know if I would have been brave enough to be the first one to apologize."

Natsuki grinned at her friend cheekily as they made their way toward the small cafe on campus, "Well you know, I _am_ kindof a superhero. Being brave in scary situations is what I do."

"Scary situations? I was in the Student Council room."

"Yeah... which is enemy territory for me in case you hadn't noticed. And honestly shouldn't that tell you all you need to know about being friends with most of them?" Natsuki asked raising a questioning eyebrow.

Shizuru laughed, but nodded in agreement. She was still planning to do her best on the Student Council when it counted, but this year she wasn't going to spend all of her time trying to impress the other students on the Council. After all, they weren't even most of the students that voted anyway, so Shizuru could certainly afford to shift her priorities to getting to know some of the other students at her school. And even if it didn't work out with the Student Council... some things just mattered more.


	8. Chapter 8

DISCLAIMER: nope.

St. Peter's Academic Quad; Thursday April 13, 2000

Mai let out a dramatic sigh as she and Natsuki exited the building where the science labs were held. "Ugh, I thought that chem lab would never end!"

Natsuki turned to her roommate with a look of mild surprise, "You don't like chemistry?"

Mai stopped walking to look at Natsuki, "Um... no. I wouldn't have expected you to be a science nerd either."

"What, just because I'm athletic I can't like some of my classes?" Natsuki teased.

Mai blushed guiltily, "Well I wasn't going to put it that way... And anyway science is generally a more demanding subject than other classes is all."

"Heh, tell that to my Japanese Literature grade." They both laughed, "You're not wrong though, I can tell that we have a lot of reading and homework in chemistry, I just like it." She paused, walking over to smile at a chubby squirrel that was standing next to the walkway under a large oak tree holding a potato crisp in his tiny hands. "It's just that... one of the only details I remember about my mom is that she was always telling me how it was her dream to someday save up enough money to go to university. She really wanted to major in science. She didn't ever say what field, or maybe she did and I didn't understand what she was talking about since I was too young... But I guess it's just something I can do that lets me feel closer to her you know?"

"Oh. If I had known I wouldn't have made fun of you..."

Natsuki smiled, "I know Mai, it's fine. If I had suddenly learned that Haruka had a deep love of calculus I would have been surprised too."

Mai snorted with amusement, having met Haruka a couple days ago at lunch. "I'll admit if I heard that I might be on the phone with Midori-san to have her double check that it wasn't a sign of the apocalypse."

"Hah! Oh wow, that's a good one Mai." Natsuki grinned at her roommate, "Look at you, already so flippant about the end of the world."

Mai shrugged but grinned too, "What can I say, I am quick to adjust. Anyway... I was supposed to meet up with Tate-kun this afternoon once classes were over to get coffee..."

"Oh really? The 'it's a date that isn't a date' beverage of choice?" Natsuki teased.

"What's wrong with that? Besides, weren't you getting coffee with Shizuru-san earlier this week?" Mai laughed as Natsuki blushed.

"Maybe... but it's not like that with us."

"See above: Oh really?"

Natsuki sighed, looking up at the white fluffy clouds in the mid-afternoon sky, "Well my life isn't exactly compatible with dating you know? I wouldn't want to risk allowing someone to get that attached to me. And plus anyone who was involved with me would almost certainly be in danger from any smarter baddies trying to get the upper hand with me."

Mai gazed at her friend sympathetically, "That has to be hard."

Natsuki just shrugged, "I'm used to it by now. But yeah... it does get difficult sometimes. Anyway, have fun with your 'coffee' and Tate. Tell me if he manages to look at anything besides your boobs the whole time."

"Mou, Natsuki-chan you're so mean! I'll see you tonight."

Natsuki waved to her friend, and then turned to head in the direction of her dorm. She was hoping to be able to finally get in touch with RedWiccan this afternoon. Her online friend had been pretty busy this year, apparently she had just started university and that was taking more of her time than high school did. Natsuki was somewhat sceptical that it was really classes that were taking up all of her friend's time, but she had no way to check.

When the Slayer reached the door of her dorm room she suddenly stopped, her enhanced hearing picking up the sound of something, or more than one something moving inside the room. Even without being able to see, she could tell by the sound of the movement that whatever was in there wasn't human. _Something tells me I'm really not going to like what I see when I open this door._ The Slayer thought glumly as she slid her key into the lock. At the sound of the door being unlocked, the movement from inside the room suddenly stopped. Natsuki charged inside, quickly closing the door behind her, assuming that anything that was coming to visit her was not something she would want roaming around the halls of her dormitory unsupervised.

Even though Natsuki had spent the better part of her life slaying all manner of evil creatures, she couldn't help but be slightly horrified at the sight of the dozen or so huge centipedes, each nearly as long as she was tall, that were crawling around on the floor of her room and the few that had climbed up onto her bed and computer desk. _And this is why I prefer vampires. At least they need a freaking invitation. And also they don't tend to be bugs. Sorry mom, I think you can rule out me being an entomologist._ Natsuki let out a soft sound of disgust as her claws came out and she tried to think of how to dispose of the creatures quickly, and with as little destruction of her room as possible. The centipedes were ready for the Slayer's attack, raising up on their back legs and displaying angrily with their huge mandibles that dripped with viscous black venom.

She charged at the nearest insect, lashing out at it with a heavy booted foot, glad once again that she chose not to wear the correct uniform dress shoes. Ten minutes later Natsuki was bleeding lightly from several inflamed bite marks on her legs and arms, but the floor was littered with the mostly unmoving bodies of the unnaturally large centipedes, though the occasional leg or antenna continued to twitch. There were also several new stains on the beige carpet that Natsuki wasn't certain how to remove, for now she settled on stuffing the bodies of the large bugs into the big trash bags she and Mai had bought for the kitchen. She growled to herself as she carried the bags outside to the dumpster, wondering exactly what the centipedes had been doing in her room in the first place.

Forty-five minutes after she had originally intended, Natsuki was finally logging into her instant messaging program. She grinned when she saw that RedWiccan was online, finally something was going right this afternoon.

OokamiDuran: Hey, you're on late?

RedWiccan: Late? ::checks clock:: 12:30am could hardly be considered late for a university student such as myself. How are you doin' wolfie?

Natsuki grinned to herself; she had allowed RedWiccan to keep the assumption that she was some rare kind of werewolf. After Natsuki had discussed concerns about the changes happening to her last year with RedWiccan, the witch had suggested that it might be something similar. Natsuki figured that was safer than revealing to anyone on the internet that she was a Slayer. Being a werewolf also apparently made her strong enough that RedWiccan wasn't suspicious that Natsuki would go out patrolling to take out vampires or other demons to keep her neighbourhood safe.

OokamiDuran: Pretty good. I had chemistry lab today. ^^

RedWiccan: Oh fun times! I had wanted to take chemistry this semester but it was full. :-( I ended up taking physics instead. What lab did you all do?

OokamiDuran: We were using copper anodes and electrolysis to calculate Avogaro's number. ^^

RedWiccan: Yay moles. :-) Anyway what's up? Or did you just want to geek out about science with me, cause hey that's cool too. If I tried to talk to my roommate about this stuff she'd just spaceout at me. :-P

OokamiDuran: No, there was something else. Or at least to me it's a something else, since I don't really understand the overlap area between magic and science.

RedWiccan: Well, in fairness it is a moving target, that overlap area. And most of it is located in the land of theoretical physics somewhere that no one really understands... there's just math that they can do to make other people think that they understand...

OokamiDuran: Hehe... yeah well. Anyway, have you ever heard of a demon that poofs like a vampire when you kill it? The other night I was fighting what looked like a fish demon or something. (Yeah this really is Japan, heh... I actually fought a demon with tentacles the other day too. Fortunately there was no inappropriate touching.) Anyway, when I killed it instead of leaving a body like a normal demon, it just exploded into golden light. It didn't even leave behind a pile of ashes like a vampire would.

RedWiccan: Hehe... well you know Hellmouths have tentacles too actually. But gosh that is interesting about that demon. The fact that it didn't leave a trace at all might be a hint, along with the bursting into light like it did... You know it's possible you might have been dealing with a really advanced hologram.

OokamiDuran: ...a hologram? But it definitely touched me. And I touched it, I felt it. Wouldn't a hologram be um... incorporeal?

RedWiccan: Well usually that would be the case. Theoretically though, if you pack the photons densely enough the light would feel solid. It's also possible that it was a form of summoning magic that was in some ways highly similar to a hologram... summoning that only partially brings the demon into this dimension. Like a solid astral projection that would immediately return to its original dimension if destroyed here.

OokamiDuran: But either way what we're looking at here is there being someone controlling these demons or whatever they are.

RedWiccan: Yeah, probably a powerful sorcerer of some kind, but I guess it could be a demon with magical ability as well. Either way, whether this is holographic or summoning what we're talking about here would take _a lot _ of energy. Especially for a human spellcaster, I couldn't see them being able to perform something so energy intensive very often without serious consequences. Even a demon casting them couldn't do it for free. Even if they would be less worried about potential dangerous side effects, you can't just constantly be calling that much power because there just wouldn't be enough. It has to recharge if you will. At least that's what I've learned this year... I mean... it's possible that there are methods that I don't know about...

OokamiDuran: Well even if there might be something else, you still gave me way more ideas than I had before. So I guess the most efficient way to deal with this would be to find the person casting them... any idea how I would do that?

RedWiccan: Not off the top of my head. You're not really into the spellcasting yourself are you?

OokamiDuran: No, but I know someone who dabbles in it. She's not so powerful that she would call herself a witch or anything, but she's good at following a ritual that has pretty set end results if you follow all the instructions?

RedWiccan: Alright, I can work with that. I'll be on the lookout for anything that might help. And if she's someone who you can let know about the details, you should tell her too. She might have access to rituals that I don't, especially if she knows more languages than just English and some basic Latin, which I imagine she would... what with you guys living in Japan and all. ;-)

OokamiDuran: Thanks so much for the help. Is everything alright with you lately? You've been so busy we haven't been keeping up.

RedWiccan: Well mostly. You know how my boyfriend and I broke up last fall...? Well... I kindof met someone else. A very different someone else... compared to him. I guess I've just been trying to figure out how I could love two people who are so different.

OokamiDuran: Hmm... Well as someone who has _never_ been in a relationship I'm hardly qualified to give advice... but maybe it isn't something that you need to analyze too strongly. I mean you know what it feels like if you're happy right? As long as this new person makes you happy, I don't think it should really matter if they're not your normal "type".

RedWiccan: Well I dunno... I mean I'd never really given a lot of thought to what my "type" is before. Maybe if I really took the time to figure it out though... maybe she is my type.

OokamiDuran: *raises eyebrow inquisitively* She? Hmm... Now that is interesting. ^^ Still though, regardless I think the really important thing is whether or not she makes you happy. If she's superhot that's just a bonus. ...Is she?

RedWiccan: Superhot? Yeah. She totally is. She's got amazingly sexy curves that are just like wow. And this kindof crooked playful smile that she teases me with that just makes me feel all melty instantly. And the most amazingly gentle blue eyes I've ever seen...

OokamiDuran: ^^ Well I guess it's safe to say that you are quite happy when you are with her. (She does sound really pretty btw.) Anyway, you said your ex left you right? So he's not even in the picture anymore. There's really not any point in worrying about comparing the two of them when it's not even an issue right?

RedWiccan: You're right. I should just let myself move on and be happy! No more being weighed down by the past for me. Someone did once tell me that I need to do more living in the moment. Tehe...

OokamiDuran: Good to hear. ^^ Anyway, I should probably logoff so that I can get started on my homework. _ Professors never buy the "I was busy killing demons" excuse for turning stuff in late. Thanks for your help!

RedWiccan: Something I have often lamented, even with my above average time-management skills. Thanks for your help too, and it's always fun to chat with you. :-) Have fun in school this year! (It's so weird how you guys start the school year in April... I can't even imagine how that would change my outlook on life...) Anyway, good luck with your homework and your demon problem. Ttyl.

OokamiDuran: Ttyl! ^^

_ OokamiDuran has signed off._

Thirty minutes later Natsuki was laying on her bed feeling bored as she tried to concentrate on her Japanese Literature reading assignment when Mai walked in the door. "Hey! How was coffee?" She asked more enthusiastically than she normally would have, eager for any distraction.

Mai smiled shyly, a light blush on her cheeks, "It went fine. You know, Tate-kun comes off as being a tough guy, but he can be surprisingly sweet when he wants to be."

"Really?" Natsuki asked, unable to keep the surprise out of her voice, "...though I guess me and Tate mostly just talk about kendo and stuff so maybe I just wouldn't know."

Mai laughed, "He might be surprised to know how sensitive you can be about certain things too." Mai grinned at the light blush on her friend's face, "But yeah... we had a nice talk about my brother and this younger girl that he thinks of as a little sister and how you just can't help worrying about them-" Mai broke off her words and let out a sudden ear-piercing, bloodcurdling scream.

"Gaah Mai what...?" Natsuki jumped up startled... and then noticed what Mai was looking at. The orange haired girl had pulled back the blanket on her bed to reveal the lightly twitching antenna of one of the giant, nearly two metre-long centipedes. Apparently that one had hidden, somehow managing to go unnoticed by Natsuki while she had disposed of the others. The Slayer immediately charged across the room, swiftly grabbing the giant arthropod just behind the head to avoid being bitten by the wicked looking mandibles. "Stay back Mai!" Natsuki warned her roommate who was cowering in the corner of the room, showing absolutely no signs of wanting to be any closer to the many-legged creature than she already was. Rather she seemed instead to be seriously contemplating fleeing the room entirely, hands shaking and her breath coming in loud ragged gasps.

Natsuki lifted the huge chilopod from her roommate's bed, wincing as the beast managed to curl its long body so that it could desperately scratch at her arms with the sharp tips of some of its many legs. She carried the bug over to the kitchen area, Mai frantically moving to the far side of the room to avoid being closer to it. When the Slayer finally had the centipede over the kitchen floor she bashed it onto the hard white tile, quickly extending her claws so that she could sever its jawed head from its long body.

"There, it's dead. You're safe now." Natsuki reassured her roommate with a grin as she grabbed a trash bag so she could dispose of the body.

It took Mai several minutes to respond, "N-Natsuki... you told me that there were vampires and demons. You never said _anything_ about giant bugs."

Natsuki shot her roommate a concerned look as she tied the plastic bag shut. "Is that different in some way?"

"IT WAS A GIANT BUG!" Mai exclaimed, flailing her arms to emphasise her point.

"And that is more frightening than a demon...?"

"Of course it is Natsuki!" Mai backed over and sat down on Natsuki's computer chair, still shaking.

"Um... I'm sorry..." Natsuki offered, moving to offer her friend a comforting hug.

"NO!" Mai shied away from her roommate, "Ugh... I'm sorry... but don't touch me until you get rid of that!" She jabbed a trembling finger in the direction of the black bag, "And also wash your hands first! They have... bug goop all over them still Natsuki!" Mai made an incoherent sound of disgust as she retreated down the hallway to the bathroom, muttering something about insufferable Vampire Slayers not understanding normal people.

Natsuki watched her roommate go with a mixture of amusement and concern. _I guess I should have known that Mai doesn't like bugs. I think she might like them even less than I do. _Looking down at her hands, Natsuki felt her own nose wrinkle with disgust. They were indeed still covered in viscous black blood from the centipede, and some of her own more normal red blood. She quickly went over to the kitchen sink to wash it off with liberal use of dish soap. After taking the trash out and changing the sheets on Mai's bed for her, Natsuki decided to continue with her Japanese Literature reading. Twenty minutes later she looked up when she heard Mai finally venturing out of the bathroom.

"Hey Mai," Natsuki spoke quietly, "I'm sorry if I seemed insensitive earlier..."

Mai shook her head smiling slightly, "It's alright Natsuki. I know you didn't mean to. Thank you for killing it; I'm not sure what I would have done if you hadn't been here to deal with it."

Natsuki shrugged, "If I wasn't here I doubt it would have been here in the first place."

"Well you can't know for certain I guess. I know how hard you work to keep everyone safe. Sorry if I sounded ungrateful or something... it's just... I kindof hate bugs."

"Well... I don't think that hating bugs is particularly uncommon anyway. What I want to know though is how they even got in here?"

"...They?"

"Um yeah. There were a bunch of them in here when I got back from class." At Mai's disbelieving look she hastily explained, "Well, I mean... I thought I got them all and I didn't want to worry you..."

"Well in the future could you please warn me if you see any _giant mutant bugs_ in our room? Or anything at all like that?"

Natsuki smiled sheepishly, "Yeah... I'm sorry Mai." Glancing over at the window, she suddenly noticed it was open. "Hey did you leave the window open?" When her roommate shook her head Natsuki frowned, concerned. "Well I can't remember if we had them locked or not...I guess it's possible they weren't locked since we're on the fifth floor."

Mai's eyes widened, "But what you're saying is that there is a possibility that those things can unlock and open our windows?"

"...Yes."

"Um... Natsuki, do you think you could call Midori-san and see if maybe we could stay at her place? You know, just until we can be sure that I won't be waking up in the middle of the night with a giant centipede on my chest?" Mai asked calmly.

"Um..." Natsuki glanced at her roommate and noticed the expression on her face, "Yeah sure. I'll call Midori right now and ask her."

Fortunately for Natsuki's continued friendship and Mai's continued sanity, Midori was pretty understanding about their situation. Since she hadn't left campus yet, she offered to give them a ride home with her when she left in another thirty minutes. Natsuki told Midori about the bugs' unexpected resourcefulness, as well as RedWiccan's theory about the demon disintegrating upon death. It didn't explain why the demon at the temple left a body like any other demon would, but Midori was just happy to have some extra information to go on while researching.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

"Ojou-sama, were you able to learn anything?" Miyu asked quietly as the golden haired girl emerged from her trance.

Alyssa let out a soft sigh, "No not really. The Champion was alone in the room on the computer most of the time and didn't speak about anything. I was able to get a good look at her roommate. Both of them seem to be just normal high school-aged girls Miyu."

Miyu looked at her charge quizzically, "I don't understand how this information is relevant to our mission?"

Alyssa shrugged, "I don't know Miyu... it just makes it so much more difficult to think about hurting them. If things had been different, that could have been me when I got older."

"The Champion's existence threatens Ojou-sama. That is all that matters to me. I will protect Ojou-sama from her however I can." Miyu stated firmly.

"Thank you Miyu." Alyssa said softly, having a difficult time keeping her blue eyes open. "Miyu... I'm so tired."

"Rest then Ojou-sama, I will take care of you." The protector reassured her charge, grabbing the dark blue blanket from the end of the bed and gently tucking the small girl in.

Alyssa yawned widely, her eyes sliding closed, "Thank you...Miyu..." Miyu smiled softly at the sight of her sleeping angel for a few moments before getting up from the bed and walking over to look out the small dusty window of the church. Her sensors were barely able to make out the dark shapes of the other buildings in the last of the red light from the setting sun. They still needed the Champion to reveal the glow's location, or Miyu would have eliminated her already. The Champion certainly wouldn't hesitate to eliminate Alyssa if she knew the girl was responsible for trying to kill her. She had to hurry up and get that information, but how? Miyu searched her programming but found no answers.


	9. Chapter 9

DISCLAIMER: I'm a dope.

St. Peter's High School; Wednesday April 18, 2000

It was early morning as Tate, Mai and Natsuki made their way from the dorms to the academic quad for a long day of classes. "So, what did you think Natsuki? Did you want to do lunch outside? The weather report says it's going to be really nice today."

Natsuki smiled at her friend, "Sure, especially if it's food that you made. You know I'm always up for that."

"Hey what about me? Am I not invited?" Tate asked, mostly feigning being offended by the notion.

Mai blinked at Tate in surprise, almost as though just now noticing his presence with them, "Well I guess you could come with us if you wanted. I think I made enough for all three of us..." She gave Natsuki a sceptical look as she said this.

Natsuki rolled her eyes, "Only if you can promise me that you won't bring Takeda with you. I swear Tate, if he doesn't take a hint soon you're _both_ going to be in physical therapy all year instead of participating in kendo competitions."

"Dammit! Physical therapy!"

"What about physical therapy?" Mai asked.

"I have it this afternoon. I have to leave to go to the hospital during lunch period." Tate complained, attempting to still look manly while pouting.

"Oh, I'm sorry Tate-kun. I can bring you by something when you get back?" Mai offered.

"Don't do that Mai, if you feed him he'll never go away." Natsuki rolled her eyes when Mai just smiled sweetly at that idea.

"Thanks Mai-chan, I'll see you later this afternoon then." Tate said, waving goodbye as he split off to go to the building where his class met.

"You don't need to be so rude to him all the time Natsuki-chan." Mai scolded her roommate.

"Eh, Tate wouldn't know what to do if I was nice to him one day." Natsuki grinned, "Maybe I'll try it next week sometime so you can see him being all paranoid that I've been replaced by some body-snatching demon."

Mai looked surprised, "I didn't know that Tate-kun knew about demons?"

"He doesn't."

"...oh." Mai gave her friend a puzzled look as they walked into their classroom for the day. "Good morning Sugiura-sensei!" she greeted brightly.

"Yo Midori."

"Good morning ladies, I trust that the two of you had a bug-free evening?" She asked in a teasing voice. Some of the other students close enough to overhear looked at her quizzically.

Natsuki grinned, "Nope, no bugs. Which is why both of us are here this morning with our sanity mostly intact."

"Good, then you'll be ready for the quiz on the late Heian period today." Midori replied, grinning back at her Slayer.

Natsuki made a rude hand gesture at her Watcher out of view of the rest of the class besides Mai, who giggled nervously. Midori just laughed and told them to go sit down to get ready for their long day of classes.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

After class let out for lunch period, Natsuki and Mai quickly headed back to their dorm room to pick up the food that Mai had prepared for them. Natsuki had an idea for where they should have their picnic, having found the small clearing in the woods behind the church a couple of nights ago while on patrol. It was just a small field, but this time of year it was covered in wildflowers and quite beautiful. They made their way across campus, Natsuki carrying the large canvas cooler with their food in it and Mai carrying a blanket and the bottled sodas that they had gotten out of the drink machine in their dorm's laundry room.

They walked slowly down the small dirt path towards the clearing that was still muddy in places from the rain that they'd gotten the other morning; today though the sun was shining, perfect warm but not hot spring weather. As they grew closer to the clearing, Natsuki's Slayer hearing picked up the faint sounds of someone singing. She smiled as she recognized the voice and gestured to Mai to be quiet. When they reached the edge of the clearing Mai let out a small surprised noise at the sight in front of them. Miyu was seated on a large rock with a peaceful look on her face, eyes closed as she listened to the small blonde girl singing. Natsuki thought that even if the little girl had sung beautifully in the church, she seemed more carefree out here. It was like the difference between how Shizuru acted with the Student Council kids and how she acted when it was just Natsuki around.

"Hey, isn't that Miyu-san?" Mai questioned softly with surprise.

"Yeah. I've seen the two of them at the church once before too."

Mai smiled broadly, "Miyu-san looks like a completely different person when she's happy."

As the little girl's song drew to a close, Natsuki was getting ready to suggest that she and Mai should take their food elsewhere so that they wouldn't be intruding, but when she turned to suggest that to her roommate she noticed that Mai was already heading across the clearing. Letting out a sigh, she followed hesitantly behind her much bolder friend.

"Wow Miyu-san! She sings beautifully! Is this your little sister?" Mai asked warmly.

"Tokiha-san. Ojou-sama is my adopted sister. We both live with Father Greer-sama at the church." Miyu explained politely before her eyes slid past Mai to rest on Natsuki. "Kuga-san." Miyu acknowledged coldly.

"I'm sorry we intruded on your time together Miyu-san." Natsuki apologized, "I didn't realize that anyone would be here, if you two wanted Mai and I could go elsewhere..."

"No it's fine Kuga-san." The young girl assured her in what seemed to be rather polite and formal tones for such a young child, "Miyu-san is just shy around people she doesn't know well, but Father is always saying that she needs to learn to interact with others better. My name is Alyssa; it's nice to meet you both."

"It's nice to meet you too Alyssa-chan." Mai replied grinning, "You really do sing beautifully, I can only imagine how talented you will be when you grow up!" She hefted the blanket in her hands, "So you don't mind if the two of us join you? I think I made enough food that we can all share." The orange haired girl offered politely.

"That would be nice, thank you Tokiha-san." Alyssa gave her a small polite smile.

"I cannot consume food at this time." Miyu replied.

"Well so long as you don't mind if we do? Natsuki-chan would probably be insufferable during afternoon classes if she didn't eat anything." Mai said teasingly.

"Hey!"

"What, you don't want to try and prove me wrong by skipping lunch do you?" Natsuki just sat down heavily on the blanket and stuck her tongue out at Mai rudely.

Alyssa giggled brightly at their actions, though Miyu's face remained an unreadable mask. "You two seem really close, have you known each other a long time?"

Mai shook her head, "No, we just met during move-in. We're roommates this year. I moved here to Tokyo for senior high." She offered Alyssa a baggie with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, "I guess we do get along pretty well though, Natsuki-chan is more fun than she seems like at first glance."

"Hey!" Natsuki complained again around a bite of her roast beef sandwich.

Alyssa smiled sweetly, "I understand, Miyu is the same way. Most people don't realize how kind she really is." Mai tried to hide her grin with her soda when Miyu blushed at her young friend's praise. "We have known each other a really long time though, it seems like Miyu has always been there for me."

"Well I think Miyu-san is very lucky to have a cute little sister like you." Mai smiled politely at the stoic pale-haired teen, "I can tell she has done a great job taking care of you."

Miyu finally cracked a smile at someone other than Alyssa at that statement, "I would do anything to protect Ojou-sama."

"You sound like Natsuki-chan when you say that." Mai grinned.

Alyssa looked startled by that, "Kuga-san has a little sister?"

The Slayer finally paused for long enough in eating her lunch to reply, "Um... no not really. Mai just likes to tease me because I worry about my friends and my guardian more than I probably should... I guess I did always kindof want a little sister, but I don't have a mom anymore and it would be really weird for me if Midori suddenly went and got pregnant..."

"Hahaha... Natsuki-chan I'm totally going to tell Sugiura-sensei that you said that about her." Mai laughed.

"Pfft whatever, I think it would be kindof weird for Yohko-sensei if Midori got knocked up unexpectedly too." The two friends were so distracted by their mutual teasing that they didn't notice Alyssa's sudden look of surprise at the mention of the Japanese History professor's name.

"What would you do to protect them?" Miyu interjected suddenly, her serious tones cutting through the roommates' banter.

"Huh?" Natsuki asked glancing at Miyu, somewhat startled that the girl was actually speaking to her.

"The ones you care about. What would you do to protect them?"

Natsuki studied those cold red eyes carefully. There was something so... flat about them that she couldn't ever remember seeing in another's before. But still, the tone of the girl's question had been serious, "I would use all of my strength, do anything that was necessary." Natsuki replied seriously, "They mean everything to me; I would protect them with my life."

Miyu gave the Slayer a sharp nod of her head, holding her bright green eyes with her own dull red ones, "I would also protect Ojou-sama with my life. I would stop at nothing to destroy any who wished to harm her."

Natsuki blinked a bit at the unexpected threat in the other's tone but nodded, "I respect that."

Mai glanced back and forth between the two curiously during their exchange. She looked at Alyssa wondering if the young girl was as lost as she was, "I feel like I missed something just then."

"I think we just witnessed two samurai testing each other's honour." Alyssa said with light amusement in her voice.

Mai raised an eyebrow at the small girl's mature way of speaking, but couldn't disagree that it seemed an accurate observation. The other two girls still seemed to be staring each other down. "Hey Natsuki-chan." Mai spoke resting a soft hand on Natsuki's knee. The Slayer turned slowly to look at her friend, but remained quiet. "I think we should be heading back to class." At Natsuki's slow nod Mai continued, "Will we see you there too Miyu-san?"

"No, I have to take Ojou-sama to get some medical treatments this afternoon." Miyu replied flatly.

"Oh... well I hope you feel better then Alyssa-chan." Mai offered politely.

"Thank you Tokiha-san. Good day to you as well Kuga-san."

"Later." Natsuki said as she helped Mai put the rest of their stuff from lunch back in the cooler. "See you around Miyu-san. It was nice to meet you Alyssa-chan."

"I only hope our next meeting is under as good of circumstances." Alyssa said solemnly causing both Mai and Natsuki to gaze at her curiously for a moment before leaving. "See Miyu? I told you they seemed like nice girls." Alyssa said softly to her protector once the other two were well out of earshot.

"The Champion would stop at nothing if we threatened those she cares about." Miyu said with worry.

"Kuga-san has much in common with my Miyu." Alyssa said as she gazed at Miyu affectionately.

Miyu shrugged, "She has many that she cares for. I only have Ojou-sama."

Alyssa shook her head sadly, "In many ways that makes her more vulnerable. There are more targets to strike at to hurt her." She let out a soft sigh, "Though I wish it wasn't necessary."

"But Ojou-sama, you are much too weak to perform another summon now!"

Alyssa smirked, "Surely if I wanted it to be strong enough to defeat the Champion. But perhaps I could defeat one of her friends... the one she calls her guardian. That one is her Miyu you know. She would be devastated; possibly unable to fight us any longer if we could destroy that one. And she isn't a child. I wouldn't have to feel so guilty."

"When?"

"I see no reason to wait. I shall perform the summoning tonight."

"Yes Ojou-sama." Miyu bowed to the blonde girl, "Do you... think maybe you could sing for me again?" She asked shyly her red eyes still averted.

Alyssa smiled gently at her protector, "Alright."

Soon the small clearing was once more filled with the sound of the golden haired girl's singing. Miyu smiled softly as she listened to the beautiful golden light. She hoped that Alyssa would be successful in neutralizing the Champion soon; the continued existence of such a threat to her Alyssa was beginning to overload her systems.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

Midori took the last swig from her bottle of Kirin as she slowly read through the ancient Hebrew ritual designed to briefly separate a caster from their source of magical power so that it could be traced. It was a simple ritual that required two casters, a vessel and a source of residual magical energy from a spell cast by the target caster. She picked absently at the label on her beer as she pondered the logistics of such a ritual. The persons performing the ritual did not need to have any particular magical power of their own, so Midori figured that she and Yohko or Fujikawa could be the ones to do that part. The tricky bit was that the vessel would need to be someone capable of holding a fairly sizable amount of mystical energy. The obvious choice for that role would be Natsuki, but since they would be returning to the monastery where the attack took place, it probably wouldn't be prudent for Natsuki to be incapacitated by this Ritual of Separation when it might prove necessary for her to defend them.

"Midori." A cultured voice interrupted her musings. She startled at a noise so nearby and looked up from her study of the ritual but smiled when she saw Yohko standing there holding a box of pizza that she placed on the coffee table and two more beers. "What language are you researching in tonight?"

"Hebrew." Midori replied absently, taking the beer she returned her eyes to her research. When she suddenly realized she hadn't actually asked Yohko about the possibility of her participation she looked up, only to be startled by the sight of a bright golden light materializing into... something behind the doctor. "Yohko!" She called out in warning as she jumped to her feet, the old book falling to the floor.

"Midori? What-" The doctor's startled exclamation was cut short by Midori slamming into her to throw her out of the way. The she dropped the bottle she was holding, the brown glass clinking lightly as it hit the carpeted floor, the foamy amber liquid inside spilling out.

"Go into the other room and lock the door." Midori ordered as she stood, placing herself between the newly materialized demon and her lover.

"But Midori-"

"NOW! Don't worry about me Yohko, I've got this." She tried to reassure the doctor, keeping her voice steady. Not taking her eyes off the demon she murmured a simple defensive barrier incantation under her breath, hoping that it might be strong enough to delay the demon for a few seconds at least.

For endless moments Yohko felt as though she was frozen, unable to look away from the otherworldly creature looming in the middle of the sitting room, staring down the brave redhead who was protecting her. The beast was at least a head taller than Midori and far bulkier; it was roughly human-shaped but was undeniably inhuman in appearance. The demon was unclothed but apparently sexless, covered head to toe in sandpapery skin that was light brown in colour with darker brown stripes running down its sides. Its head was the most obviously monstrous part, with a huge gaping mouth full of large, triangular razor-sharp teeth. Yohko thought in a strangely coherent moment considering her situation, that it somewhat resembled a shark. The doctor couldn't see how Midori in her faded denims, an old green sweatshirt with a drunken leprechaun proclaiming the virtues of alcohol, and socked feet could hope to defeat such a creature.

"YOHKO GO!" Midori yelled out, "Until you're in the other room I can't move." The Watcher winced as the demon struck hard at her flimsy magickal barrier, feeling the magic discharge as it shattered from just one blow. She breathed a sigh of relief as the doctor finally broke out of her shocked state and ran for the door to the training room, shutting it hard behind her. She wasted no time leaping into action, smashing her beer bottle on the table separating her from the demon and neatly breaking the wide end off. It wasn't going to be a good enough weapon to kill this thing, but it was much better than attempting to strike at it barehanded.

As she moved she never broke eye contact with the demon, taking in how slowly its eyes tracked after her she decided to take a gamble on it not being very agile. Ducking behind it she slammed her broken bottle down hard into its back, wincing as her hand was scraped on the sandpapery surface of the demon's skin. The demon whirled around and struck out at her with a meaty fist, she dodged out of the way, wincing again as she heard the distinct sound of the demon putting one of his fists through the drywall. _There goes my security deposit._

As soon as the door closed behind her, separating her from the demon, Yohko's panic only increased. Midori was alone out there. She jumped at the loud crashes she could hear coming from the other room, as she tried to ignore the thundering of her heartbeat in her ears enough so that she could think. Of something, anything she could do to help the brave woman protecting her. _I left my personal cellphone charging in the car, and for once I'm not on-call tonight so I don't have the hospital one either._ Finally she found what she had been looking for on a side wall, a landline phone. She wasted no time running over to it, thankful that she had memorized Natsuki's cellphone number. The Slayer picked up on the second ring.

"Natsuki! It's Midori! There's a demon in the apartment." She said without preamble.

"I'm on my way, I'm not far. If you're hidden, stay that way. Be safe."

The Slayer's tone sounded exactly the same as Midori's had when the redhead had ordered her to hide. The line went dead and Yohko was again left feeling helpless, with no clue what to do; two things that the emergency room doctor was not used to feeling in a crisis. Midori and Natsuki clearly expected her to just sit safe in here and do _nothing_, but Yohko knew she wouldn't be able to live with herself if Midori were to get hurt or worse because she didn't act. But what could she do?

Midori stood in the main room of her apartment watching for a moment as the demon she had just pummelled over the head with her brand new DVD-player crashed into her recently assembled coffee table, reducing it to splinters.

"It is not so weak as we were tolds." The demon whined, obviously in pain, drool dripping from its mouth full of oversized teeth.

Midori didn't wait around to let the demon get to his feet, instead running to the kitchen and grabbing the eight inch butcher knife from the drawer by the stove. As the demon rose to his knees she rapidly strode over to him, unerringly throwing her knife through his finned foot, lodging it in the hardwood floor under the carpet. The demon let out a low roar of pain that shook the few decorations still hanging on the walls. The Watcher blinked in disbelief tears fell from the demon's huge orange eyes.

"What the hell kindof sissy demon cries just because someone stabbed him in the foot?" Midori asked, picking up the screwdriver that had been lying on the floor from when she'd assembled the now destroyed coffee table just a few days ago. _I always knew there was a good reason for my being lazy about house cleaning._ She lashed out again, stabbing the demon through the shoulder with the improvised weapon. "If you'll just talk, I promise I'll let you go." The Watcher noticed Yohko standing in the open door to the training room through her peripheral vision, but didn't take her gaze from the prone demon.

The demon roared again in pain, "It hurts! They didn't tell us it would hurts."

"Yes well, one tends to get hurt while fighting." Midori gestured to a still freely bleeding bite mark on her right bicep, the ripped sleeve of her shirt barely hanging on. "You think that didn't hurt? And this was one of my favourite shirts too."

The demon growled angrily and once more tried to get to its feet, "You was supposed to be weak! We were untouchable!" Then it cried out again as it was impaled from behind by Yohko with a shortsword, the demon's knees gave out as the blade apparently severed its spinal cord. Midori looked up and was momentarily surprised to see cold fury in the doctor's normally gentle blue eyes, but quickly schooled her face into a wicked grin. She got to her feet and stomped her left foot on the wound in the bleeding demon's back, ignoring the warm sticky feeling of its blood seeping through her sock as she gently took the hilt of the sword from Yohko's lightly shaking hand.

"Now, as I was saying. If you'll talk, I'll let you go. Who sent you here?" She asked, making a shallow cut with the sword across the back of the demon's neck before bringing the pommel down hard on the open wound, causing it to start bleeding more profusely. The demon roared in pain and despite herself Yohko winced sympathetically, knowing that the redhead had chosen an area particularly dense with nerve endings.

"Let us go? Our legs are broken!" The demon whimpered.

Midori shrugged, unconcerned. "They'll heal won't they? I thought you had to be decapitated to die... Or was that the Akaei demon..."

"...We would tell you everything if we knew anything." The demon spoke softly before letting out an angry yell. "But the Master tells us nothing! Only that we are to hurt the loved one of the Champion. We not see the Master, but we must obey the orders." Suddenly it shot up from the ground as though its back had not been injured at all, throwing Midori off and sending her crashing into the entertainment centre. The demon ripped its foot from the ground, showering the room in golden light as it reformed. "We shall simply kill the loved one of the loved one. That will make them both weak." The demon bared its serrated teeth as it charged, wrapping a rough webbed hand around Yohko's neck and throwing her up against the wall, staring into frightened blue eyes. "This one is also not used to feeling pain." It spoke softly with a mad glint in its eye before licking the blood from the scrapes on her throat with a sandpapery forked tongue.

"Hey. I'm still in the room." Midori growled as she held the tip of the sword at the base of the demon's skull, putting just enough pressure on it to break the skin. Curious how it bled like any other animal but healed instantly like it had... "Put her down!" She added just a little more pressure, watching as more deep purple venous blood seeped down the flat of her blade.

"So that you can behead us without fears of losing anything? No. We wants you to hurts!" The demon hissed as it tightened its grip on Yohko's throat. "We dies either way. Best not to go alone."

Suddenly the demon fell to the ground, the walls shaking slightly at the heavy thud of his body. Midori blinked as she stared down at him... his reptilian looking ear seemed to have sprouted a knife hilt. A black booted foot stomped down hard on the hilt, there was cracking as cartilage and bone gave way under the pressure. An uncontrollable grin came to the Watcher's face as she slowly looked up to see burning green eyes giving the prone demon a full power Slayer-stare.

"Sorry. But those humans are _mine_." The Slayer's eyes seemed to glow as she drove her claws clean through the demon's neck, causing it to explode into golden light. Natsuki looked frantically back and forth between her Watcher and the doctor, breathing hard from her intense emotions if not the exertion of rushing here at very illegal speeds. "It was in your home! How could they know to go after you? Do you know what's sending these things so that I can _kill_ it!" She asked rapidly before stopping to take a deep breath. "Ugh. Nevermind. Are either of you hurt?"

Yohko finally felt her heart beat returning to something resembling normal, she reached up to rub her rapidly bruising throat before speaking in slightly strained tones, "No Natsuki, we're fine now. Thank you for coming here so quickly." Her breath caught as still glowing green eyes met hers, she'd never really seen Natsuki in full Slayer-mode up close like this. It was a little frightening, she looked almost inhuman.

"You were in danger. _Midori_ was in danger."

"I got some scrapes and a little bite wound, but I'll be alright." Midori tried to reassure her Slayer, drawing the dark haired girl's attention away from the frightened doctor.

Yohko spoke up hesitantly, "You know... even if the demon exploded when you killed it, there are still bloodstains on the weapons and the floor. Why is that?"

Natsuki shrugged, "I don't really know. Vampires leave behind blood too. Do you know why that is Midori?"

"Well, as a rule if it's not on the vampire at the time of death it won't dust." Midori shrugged, "For vampires it's not really helpful since it just registers as human if you try to analyze it. You can use the blood of some demons to help identify them though."

"This might be a silly question, but would it be useful at all if I took a sample of it back to my lab at the hospital to do an analysis? Obviously I'd not keep any official records of it, but I always wondered... unless it couldn't even be analyzed by scientific methods at all due to lack of similarities to animal blood?" Yohko asked, clearly already thinking of all the various tests she wanted to run.

Midori shrugged, "It certainly couldn't hurt to take a look at it. I've never seen demons exactly like these before and I haven't had any luck tracking down ones that fit the descriptions of them in my resources. I have however managed to find a ritual that could help us track down the person or thing summoning them."

"Awesome! How soon can we perform it so that I can track this thing down? This Big Bad is coming after people I know instead of just focusing on me; I have to stop it now." The Slayer's voice was strained as she spoke; sounding almost like she was on the verge of starting to panic a little. Natsuki had never been faced with an opponent that thought beyond the immediate battle like this one. She looked to Midori desperately, hoping that her Watcher would have the answers.

Midori let out a deep sigh as she limped over and sat down heavily on the couch, trying to ignore the debris that used to be her living room for now. Yohko left the room for a moment, mumbling something about getting the first aid kit. "Wait a minute until Yohko gets back? I need to tell her about it too. I was interrupted by the demon before I got to bounce the idea off her." The Watcher winced as she tried to extend her bruised muscles far enough to reach the book on the floor, but Natsuki seeing what she was reaching for simply got it for her. "Thanks. Ugh, that thing really kicked my ass a little bit. Clearly I'll need to have you do some more training sessions with me."

"You shouldn't be fighting these things at all, that's my job." Natsuki complained.

Midori smiled slightly and shook her head, "Natsuki these guys aren't going to be playing by the rules that you're used to. We've been lucky not to have faced an organized enemy like this before." She ruffled her Slayer's hair like she was still a much younger girl, smirking as Natsuki grumbled at her. "You know I'm not helpless. Even if I don't have your strength, I have combat skills and I know a bit of magic. I can use them if I need to."

They both looked up as Yohko returned to the room carrying the first aid kit. "I should really take you in to get that stitched up." The doctor complained pointing at the jagged bite wound on the redhead's arm.

Midori shrugged, "There's a needle and thread in the first aid kit. Besides, I always wanted a convincing scar so that I could tell people I survived a shark attack. That's pretty badass right?"

"What, are you going to get a tattoo of Jaws on your back now or something?" Natsuki asked with a laugh.

"...it was really more of a tiger shark."

"Oh I see. I guess that does work better with your theme." Natsuki teased, referring to her Watcher's tiger tattoo and general tendency to collect anything big cat related.

"Anyway," Yohko interjected as she began disinfecting Midori's wound with the alcohol, "Midori, I think I heard you saying something about a ritual as I was leaving the room?"

"Oh right." Midori blushed slightly at having gotten distracted, "Well I managed to find a pretty simple ritual known as the Ritual of Separation that we could use to track the location of the caster. The ritual itself is in Hebrew, so I figured that myself and Yohko, or possibly Fujikawa if his schedule works out better, would be the ones who should read it. I can write out how to read it phonetically in kana, you won't have to actually know what the words mean. This is a ceremonial ritual, meaning it doesn't actually require much or any magic to cast so there wouldn't be any issues there. The difficult part is finding a person to temporarily hold the magic of the caster. They have to be someone with a large magical capacity; the ritual will give them a lock on that person's magical signature and general location."

Natsuki interrupted, "Well shouldn't that be me? I mean, I've had lots of magic put in me before, the First District and then at the monastery. I've been hit with offensive magic plenty of times too, but I'm assuming that's not what this is."

"You're right, it isn't. But it can't be you. The weakness of the spell is that it will alert the person it's being cast upon, you can't just rip someone's magic from them without them noticing. If they're good enough they'd easily be able to trace it back to us, possibly even be able to get a summon off if they have too much power to drain it all quickly. And you've been infused with massive amounts of magic before; you know that it can leave you almost helpless."

The Slayer nodded reluctantly, "But how would we find someone else for this? We don't know any witches or anything like that do we?"

Midori shrugged, "Not that I know of." She glanced at Yohko who was almost finished stitching up the worst cuts on her arm, "Do you mind if I go grab something out of the training room?" She asked even as she slowly got to her feet, almost managing to look like it didn't hurt her.

"Well the bleeding has mostly stopped anyway, just come right back." The doctor rolled her eyes at how insufferable Midori was about these sorts of things. "I'll just collect that demon blood sample while you're in the other room."

The still charged Slayer got to her feet as well when her Watcher gestured that she should follow, her slightly bloody fists clenching and unclenching trying to dull her slaying buzz enough to listen to any instructions. "Alright I'm pretty sure I still have a few of these things." Midori mumbled to herself as she walked over to one of the various storage chests against the side wall. Opening it revealed instead of weapons, various trinkets made from different metals, animal or demon bones and wood, the significance of any of them was lost on Natsuki. She smiled to once again be reminded about the vast amount of random information stored in her Watcher's brain.

After a brief search through the various demon teeth, amulets and carved statuettes, Midori pulled out what appeared to be a small green glass bead on a thin silver chain. "Here we go! This is a spirit orb. It's really just a glass bead that has been imbued with an enchantment by one of the witches in the coven associated with the Watcher's Council. The enchantment allows it to detect the presence of someone with great magical potential."

"Then wouldn't it detect me?" Natsuki asked as she inspected the rather unimpressive trinket.

Midori shook her head, "No, a Slayer might be able to hold a lot of magical energy but as a rule you don't have what it takes to use that magic. These orbs detect witches or warlocks, or people who could become them if they were to study the ancient arts. When it is near someone with that potential the stone itself heats up and changes colour to red. The intensity of the change would indicate that individual's power potential."

"But obviously just anyone wouldn't do. And what if the orb changed because I was near the person summoning these demons?"

Midori looked at Natsuki a bit surprised, "Do you think it could be someone you see on a regular basis?" The Watcher pondered that for a bit when Natsuki just shrugged, her uncertainty clear on her face. "I think at the very least they would have to be someone that you don't have much close contact with. Summoning that difficult would require a lot of time and often some sort of sacrifice or bargain. You can't call up powerful demons like these for free."

Natsuki nodded, "So the person would have to be aware that they were summoning them."

"Definitely. There are cases of someone with untrained magic power accidentally summoning a demon, but in those cases the demon would be causing random mayhem or something like that. They wouldn't be targeting specific people nor having a plan." The Watcher thought for a minute, "Though it is possible that the summoner isn't acting completely under their own will."

"So basically I just wear this thing and hope it activates around someone we know we can trust?"

"Yep. That's the only plan I have for now." Midori said apologetically as she handed Natsuki the spirit orb. "I'll keep looking for a ritual that could perform the same function without needing a vessel, but if you could find someone to help us with this one, then we could get started faster."

Natsuki nodded quietly as she ran her calloused fingers over the smooth glass of the spirit orb, fascinated by how it didn't warm from her touch like most glass would. "Are you sure I should head back to the dorms tonight? You didn't need me to stay and make sure everything is safe?" She asked as she slipped the necklace on over her head, shoving the spirit orb down inside her shirt so that it wouldn't alert anyone else if it activated.

"You did notice that Yohko is here right?" Midori teased.

The Slayer smirked, "Ooh... was this supposed to be a date or something? But I thought you were researching."

"Well she'd only just arrived when that demon showed up and tried to ruin my chances of getting lucky."

"You think? But you saved her from it, and you were wounded in the process. Shouldn't that raise your chances? If it doesn't, I'm seriously going to have trouble if I ever start dating."

Midori laughed at the look of dismay on her Slayer's face, "I think you'd always get extra points for having superpowers. I think most girls like that sort of thing." Midori stopped for a moment as a sudden thought occurred to her, "Unless you like boys? Have we ever talked about this?"

"...Have you seen me try to have a normal conversation with Shizuru lately?" Natsuki rolled her eyes as Midori laughed at her more, "Can I look at Mai in a tight shirt without blushing?"

"I guess you have always had a difficult time keeping your cool around pretty girls..."

"Midori!" Yohko called into the room, "Are you two done? You need to let me finish bandaging that if you don't want it getting infected."

"I'll be right there!" Midori shouted back, giving the amused Natsuki a rude gesture. "Don't make fun of me, you let Mai talk to you like that and you're not even dating her."

"I'm not really making fun of you too much. I'm glad that she cares about you." Natsuki gave her Watcher a one armed hug before heading out through the door of the training room. She stopped in front of Yohko for a moment, "Hey, thanks for calling me so that I would know you guys needed help tonight. It makes me feel better to know Midori has someone who can think on their feet with her when I'm not here. Next time though, listen when I tell you to stay out of the way of the demons alright? Until you're getting combat training from Midori, I don't want you going out of your way to fight."

The Slayer was pretty impressed despite herself when Yohko didn't back down from her intense stare, "Midori needed my help, that thing was too strong for her to take on alone."

"If I hadn't gotten here in time, you might have been killed. If you want to be able to help in a fight, get Midori to train you... or you could let me train you but really she's the expert." Natsuki repeated firmly, "Also, I'm not sure how they managed to find out about my connection to Midori, but they might know about you too now since the demon got a good look at you. Don't go anywhere alone until this is resolved. She cares about you, so that means I care about you too. I really don't want you getting hurt."

Yohko nodded blushing slightly, "I was planning on staying here tonight anyway, but I promise to be careful."

"Good night Yohko, tell Midori I said to stop reading her books and have some fun."

"Oh don't worry, I wasn't going to let her do anymore reading tonight." The doctor laughed as the teenager blushed bright red at the suggestion.

"Argh, I'm going." Natsuki raised her voice a bit, "Later Midori! See you at school tomorrow!" She gave Yohko an awkward wave before heading out the door, shutting it quietly behind her.

"She was right you know." Midori murmured as she walked up behind Yohko and gave her a hug, running a scraped up hand through the doctor's dark brown hair, watching how the lamplight brought out reddish highlights. "If those things are going to be coming after us without warning like that, I should probably start giving you some basic combat training. Even if I do that, it would be preferable if you stayed out of any fights."

Yohko glared at the redhead, "You can't say I didn't help you tonight."

"No... I can't, though that's partially my problem. I guess maybe it's been too long since I've had to fight something without Natsuki. Do you think we could set aside a few hours a week to practice? I'll have to get Natsuki to help me train more too. As bad as this new demon threat is, at least it's helping us realize that there are areas where we can improve."

Yohko smiled fondly at the look of youthful enthusiasm on the redhead's face as she rambled on about the various combat styles that would be good for the doctor to start with. "Midori," She finally interjected, turning around in the taller woman's arms and nuzzling her face into her neck, placing a gentle kiss on her pulse point. She felt her own heartbeat pick up as Midori let out a sound that was a cross between a moan and a whimper and tightened her grip when she ran her tongue over the still slightly sweaty skin. Blue eyes drifted closed as she slipped a hand under Midori's shirt, running her palm over the soft heated skin, feeling the muscles tense under her touch as she kissed the taller woman's bared throat.

"If you keep that up I'm not going to let you bandage this." Midori growled out as she leaned down to kiss the brunette's mouth, biting down on the tempting full lower lip as she gently pulled her towards the couch, carefully avoiding the debris on the floor from the battle. Sitting down she pulled the doctor onto her lap, never breaking the heated kiss as she softly ran rough fingers over her lover's jaw line. "Later?" She murmured into the kiss, smiling slightly as the smaller woman replied by tugging at the hem of her shirt. _Much later._


	10. Chapter 10

((whispered: disclaimer: A small grey rat scurries through the tangled web of the intertubes, hoping that her travels will go unnoticed. In her tiny paws she carries a small stack of papers, and on her back she carries a staple gun. The muse sent her on this dangerous journey, she is full of fear, but the powerful being insisted that she write down the words and share them with others.

At long last she reaches the fan fiction site where she has posted her work in the past. Her nose twitches as she sniffs around; looking for any signs that there might be _readers_ about. There have been some here not too long ago, but she can't sense anyone around at the moment. _Good._ Quickly she unstraps the staple gun from her back, and with great effort she sets about securing the stack of papers to the site. When her job is done, she quickly scampers away, leaving the staple gun on the ground not wanting its extra weight to hamper her retreat...

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

"Hey Mai?" Natsuki called as she finally stepped into their shared dorm room, wondering briefly if the orange haired girl was spending the night elsewhere since it was so dark in here. A sudden horrible thought occurred to the Slayer, what if while she was checking up on Midori another demon had been sent here to kidnap or kill Mai? She didn't even bother to turn the light on, relying on her night vision as she frantically searched the room for signs of a struggle. "MAI!" Her heartrate increased, flooding her muscles with oxygen as she got ready to kill something.

"Natsuki, what is with the yelling?" Mai asked sleepily, walking down the hall from the bath wearing only a skimpy white terrycloth robe, drying her still damp hair with a towel.

The Slayer felt her charged body responding in an altogether different way at Mai's unexpected appearance. She quickly turned away from her attractive roommate, walking over to turn on her computer instead for an excuse not to look in the other girl's direction. "I was just worried about you. Midori was attacked by a demon at her apartment tonight."

"Oh my gosh, is she okay?" Mai asked, pausing in her search for her pyjamas to stare at the back of her roommate's head, wondering why Natsuki was so pointedly avoiding looking at her.

Natsuki nodded as she logged into her desktop's operating system, "Yeah she was alright. Got a few flesh wounds, but Yohko was already there to look after her." The Slayer sighed dramatically, "It could have been worse if I hadn't gotten there in time though. Don't get me wrong, Midori is far from helpless, but a demon getting the drop on her like that... Even I might have gotten hurt in a similar situation." She shook her head, "And plus Yohko was there, and she doesn't know how to handle herself in a fight. Not that she should, being a doctor she shouldn't really be risking her hands like that..."

"Hey, Natsuki." Mai spoke soothingly, "It's okay, you can calm down. They're both safe right? And why are you avoiding looking at me all of a sudden?"

Natsuki rolled her eyes at how clueless Mai could be at times. "You're half naked."

"I don't see why that should prevent us from having a normal conversation. We are both girls after all." Mai asked, confused.

Natsuki resisted her first impulse which was to call her roommate an idiot. "Mai, please don't take this the wrong way alright?"

"Um... what?"

"I think you're really hot."

"Um... thanks Natsuki." Mai replied, still clearly missing something. "Wouldn't that make you want to look at me though? I don't really understand. I don't mind or anything." The orange haired girl grinned as her tone turned a bit flirty and she stopped her search for her pyjamas altogether.

The Slayer tried to take in a deep, calming breath but instead all that she managed to do was catch a hint of the peach scented bodywash that her roommate used, further heightening her awareness of Mai instead of clearing her thoughts. "You don't understand. After I've been slaying, everything like that is more intense. I walked in here thinking that you were in danger too. I'm really charged right now."

Natsuki growled when Mai actually giggled, "I thought slaying just made you hungry. I didn't realize it made you all horny too." Her roommate teased mercilessly, flinging a pair of pink panties at the Slayer who caught them without looking. It was a sign of her state of mind that she didn't even blush when she realized what she was holding.

"Mai please." The Slayer's voice was husky as she momentarily forgot what she was even asking Mai to do, running her rough fingers over the silky fabric in her hand. She shook her head to clear it, forcing herself to put the panties down on her desk to avoid the unnecessary extra temptation. "I mean it; I have very little self control right now. You'd be playing with fire if you keep teasing me."

She could hear Mai slowly walking closer and felt a slow burn start in her chest at the other girl's proximity. "Well, maybe I like to play with fire a little bit. Like I said Natsuki, I don't mind if you want to play some. I'm not exactly unattracted to you."

The Slayer growled again. For someone who claimed she didn't like science, Mai always seemed to need proof before she would believe something. She hoped she had good enough control to give Mai a little taste of what she was tempting without actually going too far. She really didn't want her first kiss, or gods forbid her first anything else, to be brought on by Slayer impulses. Especially since she knew that she was far from ready for the emotional stress of a romantic relationship.

She stood and turned slowly to face Mai, her green eyes glowing lightly from the overwhelming burn of her Slayer powers that were still on high alert from the threats tonight. For a moment she was unable to move, she simply stared at Mai illuminated by the soft blue glow of her desktop monitor and the faint silver moonlight that made its way through the window. The dim light gave her skin a washed out pale look, though Natsuki could still see the freckles scattered over her arms and cheeks and even the tops of her full breasts. The amused smirk on Mai's lips and her seductive stance awakened the need for the Slayer to prove herself. Natsuki knew that she barely had control of this situation. The dark haired girl was suddenly hyperaware that she was still fully dressed, wearing even her boots and leather jacket while Mai was a flimsy cloth belt-tie away from being completely naked. She grinned ferally at the heightened sense of power Mai's vulnerability gave her as she stalked closer to the orange haired girl, the heat in her chest and lower throbbing hotter.

She could hear Mai's breath catch in her throat as she approached, stopping for a moment a few steps away. The other girl was clearly aroused; Natsuki could see the light flush to the pale skin and how her normally pale eyes were darkened. "You think you want me?" Her voice cracked as she spoke, sounding like she was speaking for the first time in a long while, as though words had almost lost meaning to her. Natsuki closed the gap between them, lightly gripping soft upper arms with deceptively gentle hands as she rested her forehead on Mai's, gazing into the slightly shorter girl's eyes. Through the haze of intense hormones her brain noted that Mai wasn't smirking anymore.

Mai struggled just to breathe, overwhelmed by the sudden intensity of her feelings and the almost dangerous look in her friend's eyes. She could barely see Natsuki's face in the dark room, but the Slayer's eyes glowed as they stared into hers. She tried to reply, but couldn't form words around her heart that seemed to be beating rapidly in her throat. Natsuki was barely even touching her, but already she felt completely helpless with arousal. None of the boys she had kissed ever made her feel like this. Of course she wanted more. She simply nodded her consent, pressing her body against Natsuki's, whimpering slightly at the feeling of cool leather on her heated skin.

The Slayer felt her heart skip a beat at Mai's unexpected complete submission to her, wrapping her arms around the soft body pressed against her. Feeling a surge of tenderness for this girl that she would do anything to protect, Natsuki nuzzled her face into soft hair, purring slightly at the comforting scent of shampoo and the underlying scent of Mai's arousal that seemed almost overwhelming now. When she felt hot kisses on her neck, Natsuki finally remembered that she was supposed to be trying to discourage this because neither of them was ready for the consequences.

The Slayer shifted her hands back to Mai's arms, roughly shoving her back against the wall next to the dresser. Mai let out a gasp at the impact, her chest heaving for breath as the air was knocked out of her. Natsuki swallowed hard at the sight of Mai gazing at her submissively, full lips slightly parted. Trailing one hand down a trembling side, Natsuki felt her control slipping as Mai let out a soft pleading noise, arching into her touch. She wondered just which one of them was playing with fire. Natsuki leaned in close, her breath hot on Mai's ear as she slid one hand inside the flimsy robe, digging her fingers hard into the soft skin of a gently curving hip. "If you let me have this," She murmured huskily into a lightly blushing ear, "I'm going to want to hurt anyone else who ever looks at you like you could belong to them. The way Tate always looks like he wants to touch you; I'd want to break his hands." Even as she warned Mai, she wondered if it wasn't already too late for warnings, if maybe the line had been crossed the minute they had started this dangerous game. "I don't share. If you let me have you, you'd only belong to me."

Mai gripped desperately at Natsuki's leather-clad arms, feeling her knees weaken at the Slayer's roughly possessive words and touch. A large part of her so wanted to just throw all caution to the wind and give into this, but her last thread of reasoned thought warned her that Natsuki probably wasn't exaggerating. If she allowed this, she would be committing to something that she wasn't sure she was ready for or even fully understood. "Is this a onetime offer?" She managed to get out, hardly recognizing her own voice. If Natsuki said it was, Mai wasn't sure that she would be able to turn her down.

Natsuki thought she felt her heart stop at the pleading look in those darkened eyes; Mai really wasn't going to be the one to stop her if she wanted this. Strangely as soon as Mai was trusting her to be the one to make the right decision, she felt the overwhelming need to take and have recede. She slowly removed the possessive, bruising grip holding Mai close to her and raised her hand to gently brush still damp bangs out of dark blue eyes. She smiled slightly, kissing a smooth cheek, "No, it's not just a onetime offer." She gasped suddenly as she felt the familiar warm sensation of being infused with magic, realizing all at once that there wasn't just a burning sensation _in_ her chest, it was _on _it. "Fuck! The spirit orb!" Natsuki cursed leaping back, causing Mai to stare at her like she was losing her mind.

"Natsuki what..." Mai asked, as she struggled to make her legs work normally again, her still arousal hazed mind unable to completely keep up with the Slayer's sudden moodshift. Her skin tingled and burned all over but Mai shivered, feeling cold inside now that Natsuki was no longer close.

"You're a witch!" Natsuki exclaimed excitedly, as she pulled the brightly glowing reddish-orange spirit orb out of her shirt. She looked at it in fascination; the thing was glowing so bright that it seemed to be performing nuclear fusion or something. Natsuki winced when she touched the orb, pulling her hand away as quickly as a vampire accidentally touching a crucifix. It was nearly as hot as it looked. "No wonder that was so intense."

"Natsuki, I promise I'm not. I wasn't trying to take advantage of you or anything, please believe me." Mai pleaded, assuming that Natsuki was angry at her for teasing too much. She felt a surge of panic as she thought that maybe Natsuki wouldn't want to be friends with her anymore now.

Natsuki shook her head and smiled at Mai, "It's alright, I'm not angry at you about that. I just didn't want my first kiss to be because of a slaying high. Not to mention I still feel like I'm too young to be doing things like that when I don't understand the consequences. Midori hasn't been able to tell me much about what precautions I should take beyond the basics, since there are things about me that are different from other Slayers." She looked into her friend's scared blue eyes, trying to reassure her, "It's not because it was you Mai, I promise. You're a really great friend and I care about you a lot."

"Are you sure?" Mai asked shyly, pulling her robe tight around her body as she walked over to sit on the bed next to Natsuki, feeling suddenly exposed and unsure of herself. Still she felt an overwhelming need to be near the Slayer right now, feeling less vulnerable when she was close to the dark haired girl.

Natsuki felt her breath catch a bit at how beautiful Mai looked, her blue eyes gazing shyly at the floor and a light blush on her cheeks as though she was horribly embarrassed for sitting so close. The Slayer was a little surprised that Mai wasn't scared away from wanting to be close to her at all with how aggressive she had been. She reached out a hand to caress the soft warm skin of a flushed cheek, gently encouraging those soft eyes to meet hers. They had faded back to their usual more washed out grey, and Mai gazed at her shyly through her long pale lashes. At her trusting and vulnerable look, Natsuki found herself wanting to kiss her friend for reasons that had nothing at all to do with her Slayer instincts.

"Completely." She murmured, gently brushing a calloused thumb over Mai's soft full lips. "I don't really understand how feelings like this work, but I do know that I care about you." Blue eyes fluttered shut at her touch and Natsuki felt herself wanting to be closer, "I just wouldn't want to be taking away your choices unless you were sure about it." She wrapped her arm around the other girl, pulling her close so that her head was resting on her leather-clad shoulder. "I would do anything to protect you. You don't have to worry, that's not ever going to change."

Mai let out a contented sound as she snuggled closer to the warm Slayer, allowing herself to enjoy how immensely special it felt to be held like this. _Tate who?_ Her eyes drifted open and she looked shyly up at Natsuki, blushing when she saw that the Slayer was gazing longingly at her lips. She wanted so badly to kiss the dark haired girl even just once, maybe even more than she wanted it when she thought they were just playing around. But Natsuki was right, neither one of them was really ready for something like that right now. She gazed passed her friend's gorgeous face and her eyes rested on the strangely glowing piece of jewellery in her other hand. "So what is that thing?"

"What thing?" Natsuki asked absently still distracted.

"That glowing thing, you acted like it burned you." Mai answered, reluctantly drawing Natsuki's attention away from herself.

"Oh crap, the spirit orb!" Natsuki cursed herself, holding the brightly glowing orange glass bead closer to Mai so that she could get a better look. "It did burn me, so don't touch it." She cautioned.

"It's really beautiful. You said something about my being a witch?" Mai asked confused, "I'm not though, I swear Natsuki. I would have told you something like that. I trust you."

"I know you do." Natsuki shrugged, "The orb doesn't check for how much you've trained your magical abilities, just how much potential power you have." Natsuki stared at the burning orb, "And judging by its reaction to you, I'd say you've got an awful lot of it."

Mai blinked in surprise, "You mean I have superpowers like you?" She shook her head, trying to clear the million thoughts suddenly flying around in her brain to a manageable number, "Why do you have a witch-detector anyway?"

"Well... witches are pretty different from Slayers as far as I know, but I guess they could be considered to have superpowers. I'm ashamed to say that I don't know the details of casting magicks, only the basics of how to defend myself from the more commonly used spells and effects. As for why I have it..." Natsuki trailed off, a worried frown on her face.

"Natsuki?" Mai questioned, not sure what to make of the sudden reticence.

Natsuki sighed, "Well... I have this because Midori and I needed a witch for a ritual. We were going to try and separate the summoner from their source of magickal energy so that we could identify them. We needed someone who could hold a lot of magick, but not me because I need to be able to protect the casters and being infused with a whole lot of power like that makes it nearly impossible to concentrate on anything."

"My keen observational skills have me noticing you using past-tense. You're not going to try this anymore? Why?" Mai asked suspiciously.

The Slayer glared at Mai, wondering why the girl was making her explain something so obvious, "Because, I don't want you near a fight like that. This ritual is almost certainly going to result in us being attacked, and I don't want to risk you getting hurt."

Mai glared back, indignant, "Well isn't that my decision to make? I want to help you!"

"No it's not! I'm the Slayer. I protect you. I don't let you go into a situation where you'll be attacked by demons!" Natsuki growled as she held Mai more possessively at the very thought.

Mai felt herself becoming annoyed by the Slayer just assuming that she was completely useless, and struggled to think of some bit of reasoning that Natsuki couldn't refute. "You said already that this big bad or whatever isn't playing by the rules. It sent a minion after Midori when you weren't there. The only way that you can really protect me is if I'm close to you. What if you all are performing this ritual with someone that the thing in charge knows you don't care about, so it sends something after me then, when you're too far away to even hope to get here in time to protect me?" Mai nuzzled her face into Natsuki's neck, not above using a bit of manipulation to get Natsuki to agree with her. "And I'd be so scared that something would happen to you out there and I wouldn't know about it. Natsuki, I wouldn't feel safe anymore without you, and I already have nightmares about those bugs. Everything is better when I'm near you though."

"You have nightmares?" Natsuki questioned her green eyes sad as she searched Mai's. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to think that I'm weak." Mai sighed, "And anyway, they don't scare me nearly as much as the thought of something happening to you." Mai glared at her friend, "I know you think I'm just some helpless ditz, but I know I can help you. That spirit orb thing obviously thinks I can help you too."

Natsuki looked away ashamed, taking her arm from around Mai's shoulders, suddenly feeling like she didn't really have a right to be touching the other girl at all. "I'm sorry Mai. I guess I can be a jerk sometimes. I didn't really mean it like I thought you were useless. I don't even like to allow Midori into combat situations if I can help it and she's better trained for it than most people in the military are."

"But this threat is too big for you to fight alone."

"Fighting things alone is supposed to be what I do." Natsuki complained, "I'm the Slayer, no one else should have to take on this burden too."

Mai actually growled at the Slayer's words, "Natsuki, knowing that you are constantly risking your life is the biggest burden I can think of. Just sitting here at night waiting for you to get home, wondering if you're okay... It's the worst feeling in the world. I have no idea how Midori manages to not go crazy."

Natsuki's eyes widened as Mai moved over to straddle her lap, kneeling so that her full breasts were right at the Slayer's eyelevel, indeed she could feel the heat from Mai's skin on her face. Mai reached out to gently run her fingers over Natsuki's jaw, bringing green eyes up to meet hers. "I care about you too Natsuki," She said as she rolled her hips forward seductively, leaning in close to gently run her tongue over Natsuki's earlobe before continuing, her voice low and husky with desire, "Gods, I'd do things for you that I don't even have words for if you wanted me to. There's no one else who makes me feel like you do." Natsuki shivered as Mai sat back to look her in the eye again, "But Natsuki, if you only want me to be your damsel in distress, then I am never going to be your girl." Mai continued, shoving the Slayer's shoulders hard as she got up from the bed, standing in front of the shocked still Natsuki. "If you want this," She said as she toyed with the cloth belt of her robe, "then you have to let me help you."

Natsuki let out a rather unSlayer-like whimper, "Jesus Mai, you're so hot when you're not doing what I tell you to."

Mai laughed as she finally walked back over to the dresser to get her pyjamas. "Oh really? Natsuki-chan wants a wife who doesn't know that her place is either barefoot in the kitchen or naked in bed?"

Natsuki grinned cheekily, "As long as she still wants to be in my bed sometimes I don't have a problem with that. Besides, I like a challenge." Natsuki stood up from the bed, stretching her slightly sore muscles and again pointedly not looking at Mai while she was changing. "Anyway I'm gonna go take a quick shower before bed, I'm still all yucky from slaying earlier."

"Are you going to tell Midori that you found me so that we can do that ritual?" Mai asked, walking over to Natsuki wearing her far more modest flannel pyjamas.

Natsuki smiled, teasingly taking one of Mai's hands in her own, raising it to her lips and placing a soft kiss on the smooth skin, "You made the reward-system simple enough that I think I understand it." Mai simply nodded silently as Natsuki released her hand, "Great. I'll let Midori know in the morning, she wouldn't be checking her email any sooner than that anyways." Natsuki said with a smirk. "You go ahead and get some sleep alright? It's really late already. I won't be up too much later and I promise to be quiet."

"Thanks for letting me help." Mai said shyly as she sat down on her bed, reaching over to grab the lotion from the bedside table to put on her legs. "And thanks for not being upset with me"

"Hey, it's fine. You couldn't have known how you were affecting me. It might have been just as much my fault for not warning you ahead of time, I just didn't want to make you uncomfortable around me..." Natsuki trailed off awkwardly. "Anyway, showertime for the dirty Slayer. I'll talk with Midori tomorrow before class and see if we can set up a meeting with the three of us for later." She said hastily before quickly retreating down the short hall to the shower, planning on making it a cold one.


	11. Chapter 11

DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER: You know... the real reason I decided to change the name of the high school that our HiME friends go to? Well, it's because I apparently have the maturity of a ten yearold and I can't type the word "Fuuka" or say it aloud without giggling inappropriately. It was too distracting, so I changed it to something less inadvertently (? or maybe it was on purpose? I dunno I don't really understand the mind of the Japanese anime writer.) amusing to English-speaking ears.

Thursday April 19, 2000

The next morning Natsuki woke before her alarm to bright sunlight streaming through the large window next to her bed and an unexpected soft warm weight draped across her side, slightly constricting her breathing in a not unpleasant way as she sprawled on her back. _What the?_ She opened her eyes slowly to see Mai in bed with her. The orange haired girl was snuggled up against her left side, one arm thrown around Natsuki's stomach and using the Slayer's shoulder as a pillow. She smiled at the peaceful expression on her friend's face, thinking that the soft morning light playing over her skin made her look like an angel.

They both still had all of their clothes on; indeed they hadn't even kissed each other. But Natsuki could tell from the possessive feelings almost overwhelming her that a line had been crossed. No matter what her intentions from now on, she wasn't going to be able to look at Mai the same way again. She wondered if she should tell Mai how she was feeling, or if she should just let the other girl think that nothing had really changed between them, despite how heated things had gotten last night. She also wondered if she should be avoiding Tate today to prevent herself from accidentally punching a slightly handicapped person. She was brought out of her contemplation as Mai stirred from her sleep. With great effort, Natsuki willed herself not to react to the pleasant feeling of the other girl's curves sliding against her as Mai stretched.

"Good morning Natsuki." Mai greeted cheerfully around a yawn.

"Hey... You know you don't have to wake up yet, the alarm isn't supposed to go off for another half hour."

Mai propped herself up on her elbow, gazing down at Natsuki with still slightly sleepy looking blue eyes, "Eh, I think you woke me up with all of those way too deep thoughts you were thinking."

Natsuki raised an eyebrow, "Deep thoughts? Me? You must be mistaken. I'm just a Slayer. The thinking of deep thoughts is someone else's job." She grinned as she pulled Mai on top of her, laughing at the startled squeak that the other girl made, "I was just enjoying being snuggled is all. And I had another thirty minutes of it to look forward to but then some inconsiderate person decided to wake up early."

Mai frowned slightly as she saw a bit of sadness in Natsuki's green eyes that belied the grin on her face, "Things are different aren't they? Even though we didn't do anything?"

"I dunno," Natsuki was still smiling as she looked up at her friend despite her worry, "I feel good though. Like I could take out this demon summoner no problem, right now." She grinned, playfully shoving Mai down on the bed next to her, reaching over to turn the alarm off. "So yeah... I guess things are different. Are they different for you too?" She asked shyly.

Mai smirked slightly, "Well, I did wake up on top of you this morning. That was different."

Natsuki blushed hotly, nuzzling her face into Mai's neck feeling suddenly vulnerable about this whole situation. "I meant do you feel differently about me?"

"Gods Natsuki, you're such a girl!" Mai laughed, even as she held the Slayer close to her, feeling a bit amused at how much she wanted to protect this girl. _Like I could do much to keep _her_ safe. _"Oh don't look sad Natsuki, I was just teasing..." Mai pleaded, trying to get the obviously faked pout off of Natsuki's lips. She blushed when Natsuki smiled at her, green eyes bright with amusement and was unable to keep her hand from reaching out to brush aside the lock of long dark hair that had fallen in front of one of them. "...yeah." She admitted, almost too softly for even Natsuki's hearing, "Things. ...They're different."

"Well I mean... those things I said last night... about you being just mine." Natsuki looked down to where her arm was draped across Mai's stomach, thinking how the thick black scars running across the skin made her seem dangerous to anyone with eyes, but here she was snuggled up in bed with some girl like a tame puppy or something. "I mean... if you really don't want. Me I mean. If it's a problem, I can figure something out if you needed some space or whatever... Because I'd understand if you didn't want to be with someone like me..."

"Natsuki." Mai interrupted, "Do you think maybe we could try and make it through these next couple weeks first before we make any drastic decisions?" She shrugged, "I don't really mind how things are now. We're going to be pretty busy with trying to get that ritual done too. I don't think we need to be worrying about long-term things when we barely know how the short-term is going to turn out yet."

Natsuki gazed into Mai's pale eyes, wondering at the hint of some emotion that she couldn't quite place in her friend's voice. She replied hesitantly, not quite certain she was saying the right thing, "...So you think we should just try and act normally around each other?"

"Sure," Mai smiled gently caressing Natsuki's cheek, "it's not like anyone else will know if we act normally. And you agree right? I mean that we can't afford to be worrying about things like this when we have a ritual to perform to track down a very dangerous person. So we act normally."

"Right. Normal. No one will suspect anything. We'll just get this important demon thing out of the way and then we'll worry about whatever is going on between us, if there's even any problem. Which I'm sure there isn't." Natsuki grinned, sharp white canines flashing in the morning light as she placed a playful kiss on Mai's hand.

Thirty minutes later they were trekking across the lightly foggy campus, hoping to get to Midori before class started. Natsuki and Mai made sure to keep a normal 'we're just friends' distance between the two of them as they chatted about the quiz that they were supposed to be having in math before lunch today.

"Natsuki!"

The Slayer immediately turned, grinning at the sound of a voice that she would recognize anywhere, "Shizuru!" She exclaimed, wrapping her arms enthusiastically around the slightly taller girl when her best friend hugged her in greeting. "How are you this morning? Oh hey Haruka."

"Kuga-san." The large blonde girl greeted her with a curt nod. "Good morning." She added as an afterthought, causing Natsuki to raise an eyebrow at Haruka's uncharacteristic politeness.

Natsuki offered the blonde girl a smile, "It is a good morning it seems. What's with you two being so enthusiastic about seeing me this morning?"

"We made drama team." Haruka explained shortly.

Natsuki gave Shizuru a questioning look and the tawny haired girl hastened to explain, "Just Haruka-chan and I tried out, no one else from Student Council. I thought that it would be good for her to try out with me, since it would be a good way for her to work on giving speeches better." Shizuru pulled Natsuki aside a bit, speaking softly in her friend's ear, "I know you didn't want me to tell any of them but Natsuki, Haruka-chan is my friend too and I didn't want her to think I was avoiding her."

Natsuki smiled at finally hearing Shizuru refer to someone besides herself as being a friend. She glanced up to see Haruka glaring suspiciously and almost laughed at Haruka's slight blush when she offered the girl a blinding grin and a friendly wave instead of her usual return glare. "Did you two have that talk?" Natsuki asked quietly.

Shizuru nodded speaking shyly in Natsuki's ear, "I guess I just realized that I'd been really purposefully keeping a lot of people at a distance, not giving them a chance to get close to me. At least that's what Haruka-chan thought, she told me that all I had to do was ask and she'd be there for me."

"That's really great Shizuru. Well I mean you two being closer now, and that you made Drama Team. That part is great."

Shizuru grinned, for once not holding back how she felt within sight of someone other than Natsuki, "I am looking forward to it. We have our first real practice next week."

Mai stood next to Haruka as the two of them watched their friends talking with each other. After a moment she turned her eyes to watch the light morning breeze blowing through the new leaves on a large nearby oak tree, hoping that the peaceful sight would sooth the intense pangs of jealousy she felt watching Shizuru's easy interaction with Natsuki. She'd never really noticed before how often Shizuru touched the Slayer when they talked, and it really should have stood out for her since it's not like she'd ever seen Shizuru touch anyone else.

"I still don't know what Shizuru-chan sees in her." Haruka spoke finally, breaking the too intense silence.

"Who, Natsuki?" Mai asked, shifting her eyes to the loud blonde next to her.

"She's just such a freeloader; I don't understand why Shizuru-chan doesn't see that." The blonde spoke loudly, and strangely slowly Mai thought, as though she were carefully choosing each word before she spoke.

"Um, are we talking about the same Natsuki?"

Haruka finally managed to tear her eyes away from the two friends and glanced at Mai as though seeing her for the first time. "Who are you again?"

"Tokiha Mai. I'm Natsuki's roommate."

The blonde grunted in acknowledgement, "I see she's got you under her spell too. I don't know how she gets everyone to fall for her act."

"I don't think that Natsuki is really a good actor..."

"And that's why I don't understand! She's such a bad influence on Shizuru-chan. That girl was always skipping classes and getting into fights, even all the way back in elementary school. And I've seen her riding a motorbike when I know she's not old enough." The blonde girl let out a heavy sigh, "I can't imagine what she would be like to live with."

Mai smiled, finally understanding a bit where the older girl was coming from, "How well do you know Natsuki?"

Haruka shrugged indifferently, "I try to avoid her."

"Well I guess from that perspective you might get the wrong impression." She smiled as Haruka gave her a puzzled look.

"Hey Mai-chan!" She jumped, slightly startled to hear Tate's friendly voice calling her name.

"Tate-kun." She replied stiffly, feeling somewhat guilty seeing him looking at her like things were the same between them as they had been a few days ago. Even if they were hardly going steady, indeed they weren't even officially seeing each other romantically at all, Mai felt as though she was misleading him just by acting friendly now. "Good morning."

Tate didn't pick up on Mai's mood right away, "You look really great this morning." He grinned as he looked over the beautiful girl, "I'm not sure what's different either, I mean you're wearing the school uniform the same as always. You just look especially beautiful today." He congratulated himself when Mai was apparently speechless at his compliment, "So... did you maybe want to go see a movie with me in the city this weekend?"

Mai shifted from foot to foot nervously, wondering how she should respond to him. She gave a small sigh of relief when she remembered that she was probably supposed to be helping with the ritual this weekend. "I'm sorry Tate-kun, but I've got plans." She replied, though he didn't realize that she was apologizing for more than just not being able to go to the movies.

"Are you feeling alright Mai?" Tate asked, concerned as he noticed Mai's continued uncharacteristic reluctance to talk to him. He put an arm around her shoulders to give her a hug, and was surprised when she stiffened uncomfortably at his touch. He blinked when he suddenly found himself standing several feet away from Mai. Natsuki was standing between them, wearing an expression that he'd never seen on her face before. Despite his posturing to Mai, he knew that Natsuki was a dangerous girl, and the way she was studying him as though he was a potential threat made him take an involuntary step back. Holding up his hands in front of himself defensively he looked past Natsuki and at Mai, who was now looking at the dark haired girl with a strangely amused expression. "Um... anyway Mai-chan, call me if your plans change? Or if you want to do something later?"

Tate felt relieved when Mai finally smiled at him like she usually did, "Sure Tate-kun. I'm sorry about this weekend. Maybe you should ask Shiho-chan if she wants to go to the movies with you instead? I know she'd be happy to hear from her 'big brother'."

Tate gave Mai a charming smile, "You're right, I should give Shiho-chan a call. I haven't had time to see her since classes started, and she has seemed a little down when I've talked to her on the phone lately." He glanced back at Natsuki who wasn't looking in his direction anymore, but was still in an aggressive stance in front of Mai. "Um... anyway I guess I should hurry up and get to class." He said even though hurrying there now would make him early.

Mai just nodded, "Me too, Natsuki and I needed to speak with our homeroom teacher before class. Have a good day Tate-kun." With that the orange haired girl gave him a little wave before taking Natsuki's hand in her own and dragging her off towards the building where the two of them had their general classes. Tate had science lab first, so he headed in the opposite direction, still wondering just what exactly he was missing about his interactions with his crush and his old friend this morning.

"What was that?" Mai raised her eyebrow questioningly at Natsuki, who seemed to be studiously avoiding looking at her, though she noticed that the Slayer was caressing the back of her hand with her thumb. She took her hand out of Natsuki's grasp, finally causing the other girl to look her way with a confused look on her face. "Natsuki, we agreed that we weren't going to act differently."

"Who was acting differently?" Natsuki asked, her face the picture of innocence.

Mai rolled her eyes, "You scared him. The only other time I've seen you look like that was when you were killing that bug."

"He was touching you." Natsuki grouched before adding defensively, "And you looked like you didn't want him to."

"I guess I just felt awkward around him today." Mai shrugged, "That was no reason to be rude to him though, he's not a bad man."

Natsuki used arriving at the door to the main academic building to look away from Mai without seeming too guilty, holding the door open for her friend, "I know. I don't even dislike him as a person, he's my friend." Natsuki sighed glancing back at Mai, her green eyes conveying a bit of apology, "I just saw him touching you and it made me kindof crazy."

"Uh huh. Well you didn't see me getting all jealous just because Shizuru-san was hanging all over you did you? Because I wasn't..."

"Shizuru always hugs me."

Mai rolled her eyes at the genuine puzzlement in Natsuki's voice, letting out a slight sigh at how clueless the Slayer could be, "Alright Natsuki, you like science right?" At the Slayer's confused nod Mai continued, "Okay then let's do a thought experiment. How would you feel if Shizuru-san was hugging me like she was hugging you this morning?"

Natsuki's eyes widened as she was assaulted by the mental image of Shizuru with her arms wrapped around Mai, both of them gazing at each other affectionately. "Jealous."

"Uh huh. ...Of who?" Mai asked curiously; slightly fearful of Natsuki's answer.

Natsuki blushed hotly and Mai almost couldn't hear her mumbled words, "...both of you." They barely had a moment for that thought to sink in when they had reached the door to their classroom. They were already too late to have any chance of speaking with Midori before the rest of the students arrived. Instead Natsuki simply informed Midori that they should have dinner together tonight; reminding her that Yohko should be there too if her work schedule permitted it. Midori agreed, saying that Yohko was going to be living at her place anyway until they could be sure that she would be safe. When she went to sit down at her desk in front of Mai as class started, she noted idly that Miyu was absent today. She hoped that Alyssa wasn't sick; Miyu had seemed so worried about her yesterday.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

Natsuki smiled as she and Mai finally opened the basement door with the giant tiger painted on it. She could feel some of the emotional stress of the day already slipping away at the sight of Midori's favourite animal, breathing in deeply at the feeling of peace that came over her just from being in her Watcher's home. Mai and Natsuki had ridden the Kawasaki to get to Midori's apartment. Natsuki had told Midori to just head straight home after school, since Mai had an interview for a part-time job at a nearby diner that Natsuki wanted to give her a ride to. Natsuki was so impressed that Mai was still looking for a job even with all of the craziness in their lives right now. Though she was worried about her friend's safety, since how was she supposed to be able to keep tabs on Mai while she was at work?

"Hey Midori!" She called as she removed her boots to put them on the rack next to the door. When she noticed how Mai was suddenly standing farther away from her than she had been on their way into the building, she smiled at Mai and grabbed her hand pulling her closer, "It'll be okay." Natsuki looked around the main room, surprised to not see Midori either in the kitchen on the computer or on the couch researching. Then she heard sounds coming from the training room, "I want to show you something." She said gesturing to Mai to be quiet.

As they approached the training room, they could see her Watcher through the open door practicing her dual wielding form with two battle axes. The main hand weapon was a simple single-headed axe with a haft just a bit shorter than a European longsword, but Natsuki recognized the smaller off-hand, a wickedly multi-bladed weapon, as an African throwing axe. The older redhead's black tank top and pants clung to her sweat soaked body as she continued to go through her forms, fighting an invisible opponent as though she hadn't seen the two teenagers come into the room. _And she definitely hasn't._ Natsuki smirked, taking in the white cloth blindfold covering Midori's eyes. _But I bet she knows we're here._

Natsuki let go of Mai's hand, leaning close to speak softly in her ear, "Don't move. Trust me; you want to stay right where you are." She padded silently across the dark blue gymnastic mats until she reached the wall with the weapons, and carefully took a particularly thick-bladed sword from its hook, purposefully allowing the metal to make a slight scraping noise against the wooden rack. Immediately she heard the tell-tale whistle through the air behind her. She whipped around and just managed to bring her left hand up in time to catch the metal haft of the small axe before the wicked spike on its underside impaled her brain through her eye socket. She spared a grin at the look of shock on Mai's face before she charged her blindfolded Watcher, not having to pull her sword's blow as the redhead brought her weapon around in a defensive position in plenty of time to deflect it.

Mai stood watching the graceful and deadly dance between the two women with amazement. She knew that both of them were skilled, but actually seeing them go at each other with deadly bladed weapons like this was something else entirely. The two women were swinging their weapons at each other forcefully, completely unafraid of being hurt as they dodged and blocked the other's strikes. Mai suspected that the Slayer wasn't fighting at anything resembling her full speed, but as Midori was fighting blindfolded she was surprised that the older woman was able to block and avoid the powerful swings of the Slayer's sword at any speed.

The two fought for another half hour before Midori finally breathlessly called a halt to their training. Raising a shaky hand Midori removed the sweat-soaked blindfold, grinning as she finally saw Natsuki. "Whew, that was... an awesome workout. Thanks." She managed to get out around her ragged breaths.

Natsuki grinned back, "Thanks for almost splitting my head open with the hunga-munga. That was an awesome throw."

Midori smirked and replied finally able to spare oxygen for more words, "Yeah, I've been considering maybe teaching someone else to throw axes like that someday."

Natsuki giggled girlishly at her Watcher's silliness before replying, "Hey, why don't you go and get cleaned up. Me and Mai will make dinner." Midori smiled and thanked her for her thoughtfulness. Thirty minutes later the three women were sitting on the floor around Midori's newly assembled replacement coffee table eating ramen.

"No Yohko-sensei tonight?" Natsuki asked.

"Nope. She left for work a few hours before you two got here, and she has an eighteen hour shift so she'll be at the hospital all night." Midori replied, pouting slightly.

"Aaw, will my poor Watcher be okay here all alone?" Natsuki teased, laughing when Midori made a rude hand gesture in her direction.

"I can't imagine how tired she must get after such a long work shift." Mai said sympathetically, "That's pretty impressive how she can think on her feet for that long. I'd probably be falling asleep halfway through the night."

Midori grinned, "She's a pretty amazing woman. So Mai-san, why did you decide to visit my humble home for dinner tonight? Not that I mind at all. Actually with your cooking skills you can feel free to visit me every night if you want."

It was Natsuki who answered, placing the still brightly glowing reddish-orange spirit orb in the middle of the table in front of them. "Mai is our witch." She said shortly, though after seeing the spirit orb Midori really didn't require any explanation.

"Oh." Midori replied briefly, looking up from the practically burning magick trinket to study Mai carefully, "I'll admit I'm somewhat surprised that Natsuki is letting you help with this. In the past she hasn't allowed her friends anywhere near anything slaying related if it could be helped."

Mai smirked glancing at a lightly blushing Natsuki, "Well I'll admit it wasn't an easy sell. But I can be very persuasive when I need to be." She teased before continuing seriously, holding the older woman's gaze, "I needed to help Midori-san. I couldn't let Natsuki fight this alone."

Midori nodded, "Thank you Mai-san. We really need all the help we can get on this one." She looked back at her Slayer, a teasing grin on her face, "I can hardly believe you found someone so quickly Natsuki, you sure can work fast when you need to." She raised an eyebrow curiously when she noticed the light blush that appeared on both teenagers' faces at her apparently innocent comment. _Well that certainly is interesting. I wonder what that's all about?_ She wondered before changing the topic. "Anyway Natsuki, Yohko and I were able to get those blood samples into her lab this morning to take a look at them."

Natsuki's eyes sparkled with curiosity at her Watcher's words, "Were you two able to find anything out about it?"

"Yes actually. Well, not me so much as her. I had to leave for school before she got much done. I'm hardly an expert on biology, so Yohko could explain this better... but she did let me keep her notes." Midori grinned as she grabbed a folder off of the sofa next to her, opening it next to her on the floor. "Anyway, the blood was pretty interesting. The red blood cells were completely human; they even tested as being AB+ blood type and for a demon that isn't a vampire, that's pretty unusual. Some of them do have red blood cells that look mammalian, but they wouldn't normally have the human antigens in their membranes."

"But I'm guessing the lymph cells are where things got more unusual?" Natsuki asked, while Mai simply turned her attention back to her food, the topic a bit too involved to hold her interest.

Midori nodded, "Yep. Even under a normal light microscope she could see that the cells had some unique structures in them that Yohko hadn't seen anywhere else before. She did some tests and found that the majority of the amino acids in their proteins were right-handed instead of left-handed like is more common among normal Earth life. Also its genetic material, while seeming similar to DNA, was completely unresponsive to the PCR technique. The enzymes just wouldn't react with it. Unfortunately red blood cells don't even have DNA, since they lose their nuclei and mitochondria to carry more oxygen, so she couldn't test those."

Natsuki's eyes widened, "So it's like a true hybrid of something from this dimension and something that isn't." Her voice betrayed her enthusiasm at such an intriguing discovery.

Midori nodded, but her expression was grim as she replied, "Yes, but unfortunately that does indicate that someone is using some of the more dangerous dark magicks to bring these demons into our reality from their own. They are probably using blood magick, or God forbid, maybe even magick that requires the caster to sacrifice a bit of their own soul essence."

"I don't know anything about magick at all and that sounds like bad news to me." Mai commented having finished the last of her ramen.

"Midori, could it even be safe to infuse Mai with that kind of magick? If they're getting their power for it using methods like that..." Natsuki's dark brows furrowed together with worry as she considered risks involved with this ritual that she hadn't even thought of before.

The Watcher nodded, "It could be very dangerous. Usually being exposed to magicks from a dark source just once wouldn't be enough to cause permanent damage, but sometimes it is." Midori looked at Mai, her expression uncharacteristically stern, "And that is why before we do the ritual this weekend, I need to teach Mai-san how to meditate properly. Being able to draw from a safe magick source is essential, especially for someone with the amount of innate power that you have Mai-san. Otherwise after we do this ritual you could prove to be just as dangerous to everyone as whatever is already after us."

"But I don't know the first thing about magick. I didn't even know I had any until last night. I wouldn't know how to go about doing any of this stuff." Mai said, her pale eyes widening in panic.

"Hey, it's alright." Midori smiled reassuringly, "That's why I said I'm going to teach you. All Watchers receive training in the basic techniques of magick, even if not all of us have enough power to make much use of it." She turned to her Slayer, "Natsuki, get the dishes washed so that Mai-san and I can get started with the basics. When you're done though don't go in the training room, come back here. We'll need you for the second part." Natsuki's green eyes betrayed her confusion at her Watcher's orders, but she simply followed them for now rather than ask any questions. She trusted Midori to know how to make this as safe as possible for her friend.

"Mai-san, come sit on the floor on this side of the table where I am so that we can get started with this." Midori suppressed a laugh when Mai sat down stiffly in the formal way facing her. "You don't have to sit in seiza unless it's comfortable for you. The most important thing for now is for you to be as comfortable as possible." Midori said soothingly, waiting for Mai to resituate herself.

"Now I want you to simply be aware how your body feels at rest like this. Keep your breathing slow and deep. Don't try to count each breath, just concentrate on the feeling of the air as it flows into and out of your lungs and the feeling of the air in the room on your skin. Magick is like air, it surrounds all of us constantly. It is as much a part of our world as air, but it isn't drawn in just through your lungs. Normally magick simply flows through us without our knowledge, inside the empty space in the matter that makes up our physical selves. For someone like you, magick is drawn to you, but until you have had a bit drawn out you wouldn't recognize the feeling of it. The spirit orb when it reacted to your presence would have drawn some of your magick to itself. Try to recall how it felt. Different people feel it differently, for some it is a sensation of a change in temperature, for others a change in the colour of the light in a room..."

"My skin. It was like it was slowly heating up from the inside, it was tingling, almost burning." Mai blushed, "I didn't realize that the feeling was my magick."

Midori nodded as she realized what Mai was referring to, replying in a reassuring, professional tone, "Your magick also responds to how you are already feeling. Emotions can intensify the response of your magick, and your magick can intensify your emotions. That can be a dangerous feedback loop in itself. When we perform the ritual you'll need to concentrate on staying calm, focusing on keeping your breathing slow and even helps with that."

Mai closed her eyes as she thought back to how she felt last night, blushing as she recalled the other burning sensations she'd felt from the Slayer touching her skin. There had been a different fire, one that was always burning low inside, though Natsuki's touch had certainly made it burn hotter. It had been like more than just her body, but some essence inside her that she hadn't been aware of had been brought to the surface at the Slayer's touch. Midori said it was the action of the spirit orb drawing a small amount of magick from her, but Mai wasn't sure. It felt like something more than that.

When Natsuki returned from the kitchen, Midori gestured silently for her to sit down next to them. Natsuki sat quietly, careful not to disturb Mai, even as her eyes were drawn to the flushed but peaceful look on her friend's face. "Can you feel the magicks now?" Midori asked softly, her voice still low and soothing. At Mai's nod she continued, "Now this next thing we are going to do is technically a spell, but all it does is allow for a slow outward flow of magick. As long as you are able to keep your thoughts and emotions calm, our physical surroundings will be unaffected." For now Midori didn't detail the specific consequences of Mai not remaining calm, though she would after they completed their exercises for tonight. Mentioning them now would only make it more difficult for Mai to maintain her equilibrium. Generally though, if someone did this exercise with too many stray thoughts or extreme emotions, their magick would manifest itself in ways that were similar to the spellcaster's talents. More often this type of involuntary magick wouldn't happen because someone was doing this exercise, but just because they accidentally replicated the effects of it by suddenly releasing a large amount of their magick.

Natsuki listened to Midori describe the method of bringing magick to the surface and slowly letting go, realizing how it was similar in some ways to how it felt for her when she was around Duran. A tugging inside that allowed something that normally was inside her to manifest itself more solidly, though Duran was only ever inside of her dreams, and never hers to control no matter her thoughts or emotions. As she watched a dull orange fire-like glow began to slowly emanate from around Mai's body and the temperature in the room itself seemed to slowly rise. Natsuki almost gasped aloud as she felt the familiar touch of magick inside her, and glanced at Midori to see if she was affected too, but the Watcher's face remained impassive as she continued to instruct Mai, urging calm and quiet thoughts. She wondered if Midori really wasn't feeling the touch of magick or if she was just better at hiding it.

As the temperature in the room started to become uncomfortable, all of them sweating slightly, Midori finally called a stop to the exercise, saying that Mai had probably lowered her reserves enough to move on to the next one. "Are you feeling tired?" Midori asked softly.

Mai shook her head as she slowly opened her eyes, "Not at all. Actually I feel really rested right now, like I just woke up from a nap or something."

Midori smiled, "Glad to hear it. Both of these exercises can be very good relaxation techniques, sometimes I use them after I've been researching for a long time so that I can keep going when I don't have time to sleep." Midori almost laughed at Natsuki's sharp glare at her, though the Slayer didn't speak; not wanting to interrupt an important lesson to scold her Watcher's sleeping habits. "Now, the first exercise does have some practical uses, but I'm not going to go into them before the ritual since it's not essential that you know them yet, so quite frankly we don't have time. For now the only purpose of the first exercise is to have you release enough of your magick so that you can more easily perform this second one, which as you may have guessed, is recharging your magick."

"As I said earlier, magick is everywhere. So the most common way to recharge your magick is to simply wait. This can take a long time, days or even weeks depending on how low your magick reserves have gotten. If you've been infused with a large amount of dark magick though, this method is going to be too slow for you. The problem with magick is that it's like air in your lungs, even if you breathe all the way out and hold it, there's air still trapped inside. Your magick is the same way, even if you kept doing the first exercise for hours you would still have magick inside you, so the best way to deal with getting rid of the dark magick would be to recharge with a more 'clean' source to dilute it."

"The most common way to go about actively replenishing one's magick is to recharge using the flow of magick through the Earth itself. It's a good method in that it's always available to you, but in this area it is an advanced technique. Natsuki may or may not have told you, but Tokyo is located over something known as a Hellmouth, or an area where the walls separating our dimension from other far more dangerous ones are weak. Many of these other dimensions are dominated by demons more powerful than any we see in ours. The Tokyo Hellmouth is mostly dormant right now, but even still dark magickal energy seeps out of it, making locating the more pure magickal energy from the Earth itself more difficult here than it would be if you were performing the same technique in say Okinawa."

"And I take it we won't have time to teach me how before the ritual?" Mai asked, finally speaking.

Midori nodded but added, "We don't, but if you want to learn it after, I would be happy to help you with it. It is a good technique for any spellcaster wanting to train their magick to know." The Watcher smirked slightly, "For now though, we are fortunate to have access to a much more easy to use source of magickal energy so that you can practice this recharge technique." Both Mai and Natsuki's eyes widened when Midori placed a hand on Natsuki's shoulder, "And this right here is the source that we will be using for now."

"M-me?" Natsuki asked, nervously glancing at her Watcher.

Midori smiled as she calmly reassured the girls, "It's not something that is going to hurt Natsuki in any way, nor will it affect her Slayer powers, so you don't have to worry about that. While most humans with the ability to hold lots of magickal energy get it from their surroundings, a Slayer actually creates her own constantly. Becoming a Slayer ties her to a mystical source slightly outside our dimension, and the constant infusion of magick in a certain way is why Slayers are so strong. Obviously this is a simplified explanation, but the short of it is that with just one person bleeding some magick off of her, Natsuki won't be affected."

"Now... creatures like vampires and demons, and humans like Slayers and spellcasters generally have a higher concentration of magick than their surroundings. Because of this they are constantly radiating some of their magick. Some creatures can naturally use this to track other beings of great power, and there are many spells that allow someone to track these signatures as well. Even from where you're sitting you would be able to absorb some magickal energy from her." Midori continued her explanation in soothing tones, aware that this next part might be awkward for all of them if her assumptions were correct, but they just didn't have time to worry about anyone being a little bit embarrassed or uncomfortable right now.

"Magick though, is a bit like heat. It can travel through air, but directly touching the source is much more efficient. Even for someone with training, trying to recharge their magick from even this fairly small distance might actually cost more than it absorbs. So to make this work you two need to get closer."

Mai blushed slightly at the suggestion, but Natsuki smiled reassuringly at her. "You don't have to be nervous, we'll be alright." Natsuki spoke quietly. She hardly needed any encouragement to be closer to Mai for whatever reason, all day she had been feeling an almost overwhelming need to touch the other girl. The Slayer didn't wait for Mai to be the one to act, standing from her spot she walked the few feet to her friend, sitting down cross-legged facing the orange haired girl with her arms resting casually on her legs, her hands towards Mai, palms facing up. She gave Mai a warm smile as the other girl hesitantly placed soft hands in hers.

"Now repeat the first part of the last exercise. You want to slowly let your perceptions of your physical self fade out of your awareness so that you can concentrate more fully on the feeling of your magick and where it is coming in contact with Natsuki's." Midori instructed calmly, studiously ignoring Mai's shy and blushing interactions with her Slayer. _I'll take the time to tease them about it later. After we've all performed this ritual and located our Big Bad without dying._

Mai nodded subtly, closing her eyes to try and rid herself of the distracting sight of Natsuki's gentle smile that brought out slight dimples, the adorable little upturned nose and those warm green eyes gazing affectionately at her through long dark lashes. Though even with her eyes closed, the image of her beautiful friend was clear in her mind.

Even as she was able to slowly raise her awareness of the light burn of her own magick inside her, her senses still refused to allow the feeling of the physical presence of the Slayer to fade. The sensation of warm rough hands lightly gripping her own suddenly became something more, as even though they were only barely touching they also seemed to be overlapping on a more basic level, somehow fused together. She attempted to concentrate on her own breathing, but instead she became more aware of the Slayer's slow quiet breaths. It seemed as though she could hear both of their heartbeats thundering in her ears instead of just her own. She subtly trailed her fingertips over Natsuki's hands and wrapped them loosely around her wrists, feeling the strong steady rhythm of her pulse throbbing in time with the thunder in her mind.

Even though Natsuki's strong physical presence was keeping Mai anchored, as she concentrated on bringing her magick to the surface she felt her perception starting to shift. Gradually sight seemed to return to her, the thin skin of her eyelids no longer enough to keep her world dark. Instead she could see Natsuki in front of her, the Slayer's body surrounded by a dark blue light. Though the blue might have seemed like cold ice to most, to Mai it seemed hot; like the dark blue of a cloudless desert sky. As a part of her leaned into the light, everything shifted again.

The Slayer was a blindingly bright blue star, burning through fuel as though the universe might end tomorrow. She was a comet, hurdling closer and closer at time-bending speeds, her own body and essence coming to light and catching fire as she absorbed the massive amounts of energy radiating from the dangerously pulsating orb of plasma. Suddenly she felt her entire existence consumed with raw sensation that was too intense to distinguish as either pleasure or pain, if she had control over her body she would have cried out. For what felt like an eternity she was forced to simply endure, wondering at once if she was dying while at the same time never wanting it to end.

As quickly as it started it stopped, Mai found herself suddenly drawn back into herself, her body feeling strange and heavy, as though she were a stranger in it. She could feel her breath burning in her throat, fast and ragged and felt how her clothes were sticking uncomfortably to her skin that was drenched with sweat. She slowly opened her eyes, blinking them as even the dim lamplight of the room seemed painfully bright. As they adjusted, she could see Natsuki sitting across from her looking similarly exhausted, though perhaps not sweating quite as much nor breathing quite as hard. Her green eyes were glowing lightly as she gazed at Mai, a look of concern on her face. "Are you okay?" She asked softly.

Mai nodded shakily, "I think so..."

"That was intense." Natsuki agreed.

"Well I'm glad you two are okay." Midori quipped from where she was emerging from behind the kitchen counter. Both girls blinked to see her so far away from them, even if both of them had until just now forgotten that the older woman was in the room at all.

"What are you doing way over there?" Natsuki questioned her Watcher, studying a rapidly forming bruise on the redhead's cheek and a lightly bleeding cut on her forehead. "Are you okay? What happened?"

Midori just smirked and then laughed slightly, despite the pain in her face and side as she gestured to her once again nearly destroyed living room. All of the furniture seemed to have been blown back against the walls with some force, and all of the decorations that had once been hanging on them had fallen on the floor. "I'm just glad I got the basement place instead of one with windows." Midori quipped, "Otherwise I might be on my way to the hospital right now from you two throwing me clean out of one."

"Oh my God Midori-san, I'm so sorry!" Mai apologized profusely, trying unsuccessfully to stand on legs that seemed to be made of gelatin.

Midori waved off her apology, smiling good-naturedly, "It's fine; serves me right for trying to train such a powerful witch in my living room. And without protective gear on too." She limped slowly to her refrigerator to pull the ice tray out of the freezer, intending to make an ice pack for the lump already forming on her forehead. "Anyway," She continued as she grabbed a freezer bag and a washcloth, "the results might have been a bit more dramatic than I thought they were going to be, but it still worked. You were definitely able to successfully recharge your magick. I think the effects were just... amplified by mutual strong emotions." Midori smirked as both teenagers blushed, "It's fine; we'll just have to do your recharge after the ritual somewhere um... less destructible than my living room."

"I'm not sure what just happened." Natsuki said, blushing profusely. Getting to her feet and feeling only slightly shaky she started to try and put the living room back in order.

"You really don't know what happened Natsuki? Do you need me to give you 'the talk' again?" Midori asked, quite unable to stop herself from teasing with such an easy target.

"Gah, Midori shut up!" Natsuki whined, only causing her Watcher to laugh louder, wincing at the pain that caused in her bruised ribs.

Mai buried her painfully blushing face in her hands, "Oh gods I can't believe..." She looked up at Midori pleadingly, "Can we just pretend this didn't happen?"

Midori smirked, "Or if you want you can remember it happened and just forget I was here. I did the whole duck and cover thing behind the counter once I noticed stuff was starting to fly anyway." She thought for a moment and then nodded to herself, "Actually you should definitely remember the whole thing. It's a great example of how emotions and magick can get into a feedback loop and cause unintended side effects. We'll let this little bit of embarrassment serve a purpose. There are certainly far worse ways to learn that lesson. Though from what I hear it's one that needs to be continually relearned."

"Worse ways?" Mai asked, dubious.

Midori nodded, all signs of mirth gone, "I won't lie to you. Magick is more dangerous than any vampire or demon on this Earth. That said, I don't want you to let your fear of the potential bad side of magick to stop you from learning, with your power... not training it could be just as dangerous." Midori paused, her hazel eyes serious as they held Mai's, before glancing to Natsuki who was still busy putting the video collection back on the shelves, not really paying attention to their conversation as she struggled to banish her embarrassment. When she turned back to the orange haired girl her eyes were glinting dangerously and the normally kind teacher's voice had a hint of steel in it, "The same with your emotions, you are going to have to be very careful to avoid letting them get out of control. Do you understand?"

Mai felt her heart chill at the implied threat in the older woman's voice. "I understand." She spoke softly.

Midori stalked closer, her voice quieter as she continued, though Mai had no trouble hearing every word. "I'm not sure that you understand. I'm not saying that I have a problem with you and my Natsuki caring about each other. You might be expecting me to give you the 'you two are way too young' speech, and while a large part of me would agree with that, I find myself hesitant to deny Natsuki anything just because she's too young." Midori sighed, glancing at her still preoccupied Slayer with sad eyes, "Her life is too dangerous for me to tell her that she has to put off anything that might make her happy until later. I could never live with myself if..." She shook her head, shifting hazel eyes back to now sad blue, "I just want you to understand that you can't have unrealistic expectations. Expect her to make mistakes, don't expect that she has any real notions right now about what she wants long-term." Midori sighed, "In fact, just expect right now that you'll inevitably get hurt and make plans so that you won't overreact."

"I know." Mai said so softly Midori almost couldn't hear her. "I think she loves someone else anyway." There was an acceptance of fate in her softly spoken words that made Midori wonder if maybe she hadn't underestimated this girl. "But even though I know that..." She trailed off, gazing over at Natsuki who had finished putting away movies and moved on to rehanging pictures that had fallen from the walls. "It doesn't seem to change how I feel about her."

Midori nodded sympathetically, "Just try to be careful."

Mai looked back at Midori her voice rough and cracking slightly when she replied, "I'm afraid it's way too late for that. I promise though, the last thing I'd want to do is hurt her."

The two women who both cared about the Slayer in their own way gazed at each other for a moment, contemplating the inevitably difficult future ahead for all of them until Natsuki interrupted their worry about more abstract concerns with her own more immediate ones. "Yo, are either of you going to help me with this so that me and Mai can get at least _some_ sleep before class tomorrow?" Natsuki asked, apparently finally having recovered from her embarrassment enough to acknowledge the other people in the room again.

"Yeah, sorry Natsuki. Midori-san just wanted to make sure I understood what I'm getting into." At Natsuki's look of disbelief Mai hastened to explain, obfuscating their actual topic of discussion to prevent Natsuki feeling uncomfortable, "With learning the magicks I mean. Apparently it can be really dangerous."

Natsuki smiled affectionately at Mai as she walked over to help move the now slightly scratched up new coffee table back to its place in the middle of the room, even though the Slayer probably didn't need her help. "It's alright Mai. I just wanted to get this done so we can hurry up and get back to the dorm." When her Watcher made an amused noise Natsuki turned to glare at her, "So we can _sleep._"

Midori smirked but replied innocently, "What, I didn't say anything. Anyway you're right... I promised Yohko that I would get some sleep instead of staying up all night researching again. She's already going to have questions about my new bruises." She looked around at the mostly reorganized living room, "Actually, you know what? You two go on back to the school. This is fine for now." The two teenagers thanked her, Mai apologizing again for destroying her living room in the first place, before quickly getting their things and heading out the door. Midori smiled as she watched them go, hoping that the two of them would be able to remain friends despite the difficulties she could see standing in their way.


	12. Chapter 12

DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER: Zomg this chapter is huge! But like the giant nucleus of a plutonium atom inside a nuclear bomb, it promised me great and terrible consequences if I attempted to split it. So here it is in its entirety. Enjoy. Also: I'm so glad that the Mai/Nat is finally getting me a bit of righteous indignation ^_^ It's always fun to see how much enthusiasm people have in this fandom, cheers to you. (Even though you are probably yunno... not reading this now. tch.) If you have constructive critique, please log in so I can ask for details, otherwise how will I be able to fix it? To anyone still reading this fic despite the controversial not-quite-relationship and the glaring problems as far as characterization go, I hope you enjoy. -.o (Oh and roses-r-red? This MaiNat is for you.)

AN: It gets a bit more crossovery here than normal, but I hope that my dear readers will bear with me and accept my decision to not move the posting to the crossover section. I still feel like its ratio of HiME/Buffy would leave any pure Buffy fans much too confused. The main episodes referenced are Hush, Who Are You and New Moon Rising for any readers wanting to see them. And since you're all here and enjoy yuri, I know that if you somehow haven't seen them before you'll want to. ^^

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

Student Council Room, Friday April 20, 2000

Natsuki walked into the Student Council Room without knocking, this time feeling less nervous about her presence here since she knew for certain that Shizuru wasn't angry with her. She did still feel a little unwelcome; since Reito practically living here still made this definitely enemy territory. Her feelings of discomfort amplified when she noticed that Tate was here; apparently he had decided to run for class representative since he wasn't going to be doing kendo competitions this year. She couldn't believe that she was actually feeling uncomfortable around one of her oldest friends, but since she knew how he felt about Mai, she couldn't help but worry that he must have noticed her strange behaviour yesterday.

Also, she might not be worried about Shizuru being angry with her, but she was nervous about being around her long time crush when she knew Mai liked her. And she definitely returned Mai's affections despite the fact that her feelings for Shizuru hadn't changed either... it was all enough to leave Natsuki feeling very confused. But it had been Mai who had insisted that Natsuki should go spend time with Shizuru this afternoon. Her roommate had said that she didn't want to allow her own potential jealousy to stop Natsuki from seeing her best friend, and that Natsuki shouldn't worry about Mai but instead have fun since this weekend they'd have plenty enough to worry about when they performed the Ritual of Separation to locate the hostile spellcaster. Natsuki had reluctantly taken her friend's word for it, though she still had her doubts that Mai would be as unaffected by this situation as she let on.

"What are you doing here in the Student Council room Kuga-san?" Reito asked his polite tones thick with an undercurrent of disgust at the sight of the dark haired girl. "We are trying to take care of important business here."

Natsuki smirked at him, happy to be able to annoy the older boy. "I'm here to see if I can't talk Shizuru into shirking her duties."

Now Reito didn't even try to hide his disgust, a scowl on his handsome face as he turned to fully look at Natsuki, "I'm quite sure that Shizuru-chan doesn't need to be spending time with someone like you."

Natsuki was surprised when Tate was the one who came to her defence, "Dude Reito-kun, don't you think it's Shizuru-san's call if she wants to spend time with her friend? Besides, we aren't doing anything that we specifically need her input on. Shouldn't she have some fun for once? She's been working on these forms for which clubs get to use the different activities rooms harder than the rest of us have."

Haruka also scowled from her chair at Shizuru's right, "Still though, she shouldn't be allowing irresponsible people like Kuga to talk her into not keeping her responsibilities."

Natsuki turned her eyes to Haruka, studying Shizuru's loyal friend carefully. The Slayer might not have been as good at politics as most of the Student Council, but still she knew strategy; and 'divide and conquer' was an oldie but a goodie. "You can come with us if you want Haruka-san." She offered, for once using the polite honorific on the other girl's name. "We were planning on going to the arcade. If you wanted we could even stop by the school paper's office and kidnap Yukino-chan. She was just telling me the other day how much she misses seeing you." Natsuki bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing when Haruka blushed at the mention of her quiet mousey haired friend.

"Well... I've just been so busy with beginning of the year school admonistations... I miss her too though." Natsuki was impressed with how quickly Haruka gave into her suggestion. Perhaps for all her talk of responsibility, the blonde girl was secretly waiting for someone to talk her into cutting loose a bit. "That is a good idea, let's go Shizuru-chan." Haruka said enthusiastically.

Shizuru's lips turned up slightly in a hint of a smile as she stood gracefully from her chair at the head of the table and walked over to give Natsuki a hug. "Thank you for inviting Haruka-chan to come with us." Shizuru murmured in Natsuki's ear, "I really appreciate you making the effort to include her. My Natsuki is such a sweet girl." The tawny brunette giggled as Natsuki blushed as she always did when complimented by her.

"So you're both just skipping out on your responsibilities to spend time with that freak?" Reito asked Shizuru, dropping all pretence of even civility.

"Reito-kun, just give it a rest." Tate admonished his friend, looking at Natsuki apologetically. Natsuki clenched her fists nervously, a bit uncomfortable with him sticking up for her, since she was beginning to think that he definitely didn't realize that there was anything up with Mai.

"Thanks Tate." She said softly.

"Hey, no problem." Tate gave her a good-natured grin, "Unlike Mr. Stick-up-his-butt there, I know that Shizuru-san would cover for any of us if we wanted to take an afternoon off to go have some fun. You just help Shizuru-san to relax a little." He rubbed the goatee he was sporting these days thoughtfully and smirked as he added, "And maybe even teach Haruka-chan the meaning of the word."

"Oh shut up Shaggy." Haruka complained, standing now that she had finally finished packing all of the folders and writing utensils she had brought to the meeting in her backpack. "Kuga-san, you don't mind if me and Shizuru-chan drop our stuff off in our room first? I have to get my cellphone if we're going into the city, and I really don't want to wear my school uniform if we aren't going to be on campus."

Natsuki who was already wearing slightly ratty looking dark jeans and a long-sleeved Spiderman t-shirt smiled, "That's alright with me, I can understand not wanting to be groped on the bus. Lead the way Haruka-san."

Shizuru and Natsuki stood outside in the hall waiting for Haruka. Shizuru was leaning gracefully against the wall across from Natsuki, who was enjoying watching the play of the afternoon sun over her friend's face and the way it seemed to turn her hair to liquid gold. "Are you sure you didn't want to get changed out of your school uniform too?" Natsuki asked.

Shizuru smirked, "You know I don't really share Natsuki's aversion to skirts. And I trust my Natsuki to protect me from any perverted old men on the bus."

"Damn right I will." Natsuki growled as Shizuru giggled.

"Has Natsuki done something in particular to upset Reito-san recently?" Shizuru questioned, referring to Reito's uncharacteristic openly rude behaviour in the Student Council room.

"You noticed that huh?"

Shizuru smiled faintly, "Indeed. I would have to be a much more oblivious person to have missed it. I don't recall ever having seen Reito-san speak quite so directly about something that was bothering him."

Natsuki sighed glancing at the door, wondering when Haruka would be back out. "Well... let's just say he saw me practicing my um... hobby."

"Your hobby?" Shizuru questioned, then when she saw Natsuki's significant look her eyes widened. "Oh. _That._" Her light brows furrowed with considerable puzzlement, "I don't really see why that would cause him to act rudely to my Natsuki though. If anything one would think he would act more politely around her now that he knows."

Natsuki shrugged, "Yeah, I don't know. It was odd. I mean different people have different reactions to seeing something like that, but his was still strange. Like he wasn't really surprised to see that there were dangerous supernatural beings, he just seemed to think that I was one of them I guess?" She shook her head, not really sure how to describe just how strange his reaction was, "I guess his biggest concern was that you would be in danger by associating with me." Natsuki looked away from Shizuru, her green eyes full of sadness and guilt. That was the other reason she'd almost skipped out on her and Shizuru's date to spend time together this week. Midori being attacked made her really reluctant to allow anyone to see her and Shizuru together. She still wasn't sure if she was doing the right thing by seeing Shizuru today.

She looked back, startled when she felt warm fingers on her cheek brushing a stray lock of hair behind a small suddenly blushing ear. "I think he's wrong about that. Everyone is in danger all the time." Shizuru gave her one of the smiles that seemed reserved only for the Slayer, "And besides, even if he were right, I would risk many dangers to be Natsuki's friend."

"Shizuru..."

Suddenly the door to the room opened and Haruka was standing in the doorway blushing slightly and staring at them awkwardly, "Uh... I'm not interrupting anything am I?" She asked, taking in how close the two friends were standing, and Shizuru's hand caressing Natsuki's cheek.

Shizuru just gave Haruka a mysterious smile, "Not at all Haruka-chan. I was just getting a leaf out of Natsuki's hair." She smiled as she produced a green oak leaf in her hand, seemingly by magick. Natsuki blinked, startled by its sudden appearance even with her sharp reflexes, though she had indeed felt Shizuru pull something out of her hair.

Haruka shrugged, apparently more than happy to accept that explanation over the more awkward option that she had, in fact, interrupted _something_. "Oh, right then. Um... did you two want to go pick up Yukino-chan?" She asked, her cheeks colouring pink again.

Shizuru smiled sweetly at her friend as she grabbed Natsuki's hand. "Sure, I know that Yukino-san will be thrilled to see her Haruka-chan." Both Natsuki and Shizuru laughed when Haruka blushed redder and mumbled something under her breath, turning to head down the hall without a second glance at the other two girls.

"I can see why you said she's such a good friend for you Shizuru." Natsuki said softly to her best friend as they followed Haruka down the hallway to the stairwell, hand in hand. "She's even easier for you to tease than I am."

Shizuru giggled, "Natsuki has noticed that teasing is a vice of mine? My Natsuki knows me so well."

Natsuki snorted rudely, "Shizuru, I noticed that about you practically the first day I met you." They hurried down the stairs to where Haruka was waiting for them, holding the door to outside open politely.

"This was a good idea Kuga-san. It's a really nice day." Haruka said slowly as she walked beside the two friends, Shizuru walking between them.

Natsuki glanced around Shizuru at the strongly built blonde, noticing the way curls framed her surprisingly feminine face. It was the height of hypocrisy, but most of the time Haruka acted so tough that Natsuki forgot she was even a girl. Natsuki shrugged, "You need to get out and have fun more often."

"You know Kuga-san," Haruka added thoughtfully, "I used to think that you were just a lazy freeloader with no sense of responsibility. But I asked Shizuru-chan about it, and she told me how you were disadvantaged when you were younger, so maybe I've been a little too hard on you."

Natsuki glanced at Shizuru, "Disadvantaged?" she mouthed. Shizuru winced, her rusty eyes trying to quietly convey her apology. Natsuki sighed, really if Shizuru was in politics now, shouldn't she be better at lying? "Um... thanks Haruka-san. It's alright though; I appreciate how you're always looking out for Shizuru. It means a lot to me to know that she has such a good friend that she can count on. ...And please, just call me Natsuki. We've known each other for ages."

Haruka beamed widely, puffing out her wide chest proudly even as she blushed slightly, "Thank you Natsuki-san. And you better believe I won't let anyone try to take advantage of Shizuru-chan's kind nature!"

When they reached the office of the school paper, Natsuki entered what was basically a small copyroom with a few computers as though she lived there. "Hey Yukino! Look who's here to see you!" She called loudly, laughing when she could see the small spiky-haired girl wince even though she was across the room with her back turned. When the petite girl turned around and saw who Natsuki was referring to however, all of her embarrassment at being called out immediately faded.

"Haruka-chan!" She squeaked gleefully, running across the room to give the brightly blushing blonde an enthusiastic hug. Yukino had also changed out of her school uniform, and was wearing what Natsuki thought was a fairly adorable outfit consisting of overalls and a green and blue horizontal striped shirt. _And Haruka clearly agrees with me. _Natsuki observed with amusement.

"Hey Yukino-chan." Haruka said in what for her was a soft tone of voice as she carefully returned Yukino's hug, as though she were afraid she could crush her small friend. "Um... Shizuru-chan and her crazy friend there were wondering if you wanted to go to the city with us this afternoon? I think the plan was to go to the arcade."

Yukino grinned at hearing why Haruka had come to visit, but then winced slightly as she remembered that she was here in her club room for a reason. She glanced across the room at Kenji and Chie who weren't even pretending to not watch the amusing exchange. She grinned broader when both of her fellow newspaper volunteers just gave her thumbs up signs. "Just have some interesting gossip to tell me when you get back." Chie teased.

They all laughed when Yukino actually stuck her tongue out rudely at the tomboy, but then she smiled sweetly and responded politely, "Thanks you guys, I haven't gotten to see Haruka-chan much at all since school started."

Kenji smirked, "That's fine, it just means that Chie will have to actually do some work today instead of just goofing off on her cellphone."

Chie feigned a look of shocked hurt, "Who me?"

Shizuru giggled softly at their interactions, "Thank you again for sparing Yukino-san. I'll make sure to give the newspaper priority when we are looking at funding for special projects on the Student Council."

Natsuki's eyes widened, "They actually let the Student Council decide things about money?"

Shizuru gave one of her half-smiles, "Well, the administration double checks us to make sure we aren't using school resources irresponsibly, but yes we are the ones who determine that sort of thing."

Natsuki smirked, "Huh. Student Council is unexpectedly serious business."

Haruka glanced over at Natsuki "I'm surprised you would notice something like that."

"Eh, just because I'm apparently lazy doesn't mean I'm stupid yunno."

Several minutes later the four friends were standing out in front of the school administrative office at the bus stop on campus. Even though most of the students at their school were from well off families, the public bus was still the main mode of transportation for students looking to get into the city. After all, not all of them had guardians who were willing to go through the legal hoops required to get their children fake IDs. While they were waiting, Natsuki noticed Miyu walking along the sidewalk across the small street. Remembering that she hadn't seen the pale girl in class either yesterday or today, she leaned over to Shizuru and told her that she was going to go over and say hello, since she wanted to find out if Alyssa was feeling better.

Jogging across the street, dodging the vehicle of a disapproving faculty member, she approached the pale girl from behind, "Miyu-san!"

Hearing her name being called the pale haired girl stopped abruptly and stiffly turned to face Natsuki, "Kuga-san." She greeted flatly, with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Um... Hey Miyu-san... I was just wondering if your little sister, Alyssa-chan, was feeling alright? You said that she was needing medical treatment, and then you weren't in class the last couple of days. I was worried about her." Natsuki rambled, running a nervous hand through her long dark hair. She still couldn't place what exactly it was about Miyu that put her off guard. It wasn't that she found the girl attractive, though she wasn't unattractive. It wasn't even that she was slightly rude, since Reito was openly rude to her and didn't make her nervous at all, just annoyed. The Slayer concluded that it was something about those red eyes that she could tell were analyzing her minutely, but seemed to give nothing away of the pale girl's own emotions. Even Shizuru, who most people considered to be difficult to read, was an open book to Natsuki if she was studying her friend's eyes, but Miyu... there was something missing. Natsuki just wished she could figure out what exactly.

"Ojou-sama is _fine._" Miyu replied in clipped tones, seeming almost defensive. "And what business is it of Kuga-san's how my Ojou-sama's health is?"

Natsuki was taken aback by how hostile the other girl was being at what seemed to her a polite inquiry into the health of a younger sibling. _But then Miyu is a very private person, perhaps she thinks I'm being too nosy._ "I'm sorry Miyu-san; I guess it really isn't my business at all. I was just worried about her since you said she was sick, that's all. ...I guess it's a flaw of mine. I worry about people, even when I don't know them very well and it's not any of my business." Natsuki shrugged helplessly, hoping to convey to Miyu that she really hadn't meant any offence.

Miyu cocked her head to the side as she studied Natsuki for a moment, before speaking again slowly, her voice conveying some degree of confusion though her eyes remained the same impenetrable pools of red, "Then... Kuga-san is inquiring about my Ojou-sama's health because she wishes for her to recover?"

"Well of course." Natsuki replied, wondering what Miyu's upbringing was that she wouldn't assume that anyone, even a total stranger, would worry about the health of an innocent young girl like Alyssa. "I think most anyone would want to know that she was getting better Miyu-san, no one likes to think that someone's little sister is sick you know?"

"...So Kuga-san would be willing to help my Ojou-sama?" Miyu questioned.

Natsuki nodded slowly as she held the pale girl's unsettling gaze, attempting to convey her own sincerity, "If there was anything at all that I could do to help her, I would do it. Obviously there are some things that I just can't do under any circumstances, but if it was within my power, I would do what I could to help her."

Natsuki was startled when Miyu suddenly grabbed her hand in her own, cold smooth fingers around her wrist, "And why? Why would you be willing to help? What is my Ojou-sama to you?"

The Slayer clamped down on her first urge, which was to place some distance between herself and this strange girl who she felt rather uncomfortable being touched by. _Obviously she has a difficult time trusting people; I need to answer honestly and clearly._ "She's human Miyu-san. That's all... but sometimes that's all that someone needs to be for me to care about them a lot. I've heard her singing and seen how happy she makes you... I want her to be safe." Miyu seemed to listen very carefully to each word as Natsuki spoke them, her red eyes widening subtly in surprise as Natsuki reached the end of her statement.

"I... see." Miyu slowly released Natsuki's wrist, "I did not understand before."

Natsuki tried to smile reassuringly, even as she rubbed her wrist where Miyu had touched her. It tingled as though it had been exposed to a large amount of static electricity. "It's alright Miyu-san. I guess I just wanted to let you know that I was worried... and that I care..."

"I... Thank you Kuga-san." Miyu spoke the words slowly, almost as though saying them for the first time.

Natsuki glanced across the small street, noticing that the bus had arrived, "Um anyway, the bus is here so I should go." She gave the pale girl a small wave before quickly heading across the street, trying to make sure it only looked like she was rushing to catch the bus and not rushing to get further away from the uncanny girl with the cold red eyes.

Miyu watched the Champion go, with a strange stirring in her programming as her processors churned hard, trying to make sense of this new information. Her sensors indicated that the Champion was telling the truth: she did not want Alyssa to be hurt. But was that only because the Champion did not know what Alyssa was doing? Would the Champion be willing to help her Ojou-sama even if she knew? Miyu found herself momentarily frozen in place as her processors were overwhelmed with attempting to solve an equation with an ever increasing number of variables. The only thing the protector knew for certain was that her angel's future might depend on finding out the answer to this seemingly unsolvable question.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

Apartment Complex, Tokyo; Same time

Yohko gave a sigh of relief as she finally pulled her small blue economy car into the badly maintained car park behind Midori's apartment building. She had stayed late after her already inhumanely long shift, grabbing a nap in the employee breakroom so she could finish up some paperwork. Normally she would have saved it for the next day, but she needed to do it sooner so that she would be able to help Midori with the Ritual of Separation tomorrow night. Now she wasn't sure what was even keeping her eyes open she was so exhausted. She wondered if she was getting old or if pulling shifts like this made her just as tired as a young resident and she simply didn't remember. Though to be fair to herself when she was a resident she didn't have a side hobby of helping out a couple of demon hunters in her off hours.

Grabbing her purse and slowly getting out of the car, she blinked in surprise at the sight that assaulted her vision. Then she blinked a few more times, hoping against hope that her eyes would tell her tired brain that it wasn't really seeing what it thought it was seeing. Growling quietly when she came to the conclusion that her brain wasn't deceiving her, the weary emergency room doctor half-heartedly made her way across the parking lot's cracked asphalt towards the source of her vexation.

"Midori, what the hell is that?"

At first the redhead didn't pick up on the annoyance in her lover's voice as she proudly showed off her new toy. "This is an all-terrain vehicle." She grinned, indicating the monstrosity that she was sitting on top of. The gleaming fire engine red, black tiger-striped vehicle looked something like a cross between a jeep, a monster truck and a four-wheeled motorcycle. Yohko thought that she wouldn't be shocked to learn that the mechanical beast was also a Transformer.

"Why do you have a recreational vehicle that is larger than your car?"

Midori blinked, finally realizing that maybe Yohko wasn't quite as thrilled about this fetching machine as she was. Running a soothing hand over the smooth red paint to reassure her new friend she tried to calmly explain to the doctor her reasons. Which were perfectly reasonable. "Well sweetie, Natsuki explained to me that the location we have to get to tomorrow evening is down a dirt road that my normal vehicle definitely would not survive. And we can't very well put four of us on her motorcycle can we?"

"I still can't believe you're letting an underage kid ride around this city full of crazy drivers on such a dangerous machine." Yohko glared, crossing her arms over her blue scrub-top clad chest, "Do you know how many mangled young people I have to try and put back together in my ER because of accidents they have on those things?"

Midori winced when she realized her attempt to get out of this argument may have inadvertently brought up an old one. The Watcher knew that even her made up reasons about having gotten Natsuki the motorcycle to help out with her slaying weren't going to fly with Yohko. Let alone her real reasons for getting Natsuki the little blue Kawasaki: she just couldn't stand seeing her Slayer so sad, and she had known that the motorcycle would cheer her up. Realizing that there was no way that she was winning this debate, the tall Englishwoman changed tactics. She jumped down off of the large vehicle, her worn brown boots landing soundlessly on the pavement. Slowly she approached the still annoyed doctor, her hazel eyes downcast, noticing how Yohko was now pointedly not looking at her at all.

Yohko felt herself screaming inwardly, wondering just how gullible Midori thought she was. Even though she knew exactly what the younger redhead was up to, she still refused to look her in the eyes, trying not to allow her the chance to work her charms. She shivered slightly when she felt a warm rough hand on her arm, caressing her soft skin lightly before trailing down to intertwine their fingers. She sighed slightly as Midori spoke in a hesitant, husky voice. She was lost. "Yohko... are you mad at me?"

The doctor finally turned annoyed, but affectionate blue eyes to her lover, "Yes actually. And yet for some reason I still love you. No matter how irresponsible and reckless I think you are." She felt her heart flutter a bit when instead of being amused at her giving in so easily, Midori simply caressed the hand she was holding and gazed at Yohko with concern. The doctor allowed her tired mind to be distracted by the way the late afternoon sun brought out gold flecks in her lover's eyes, making the redhead look a bit like the large feline that was her favourite animal. Some of her bright red hair had come loose from her always haphazard ponytail to frame her barely lined eyes and it would be easy for someone to mistake her for a woman fifteen years younger.

After a moment she noticed something, bringing her other hand up to gently brush the skin just over a red eyebrow that was smudged darker with what seemed to be motor oil. "How did that happen?" She asked, indicating the large cut that hadn't been there when she'd left for work yesterday. The thing probably should have butterfly stitches on it too, left the way it was it was going to scar.

"What?" Midori asked her voice puzzled for a moment as she leaned into the doctor's gentle touch. "...oh right the cut. You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you." She grinned as she tugged Yohko's hand in hers, leading her towards the building, eager to spend some time with her lover without giving her neighbours a free show.

Yohko let out an unlady-like snort of amusement, "I wouldn't believe you? You've told me some pretty crazy stories over the years."

Midori smirked, "Alright... well I got hit by a burst of energy released by my Natsuki and her witch exchanging enough magicks to amount to them accidentally having underage sex in my living room."

"..." Wide blue eyes shifted to look at Midori with disbelief.

Kicking open the door to her apartment Midori pulled the still somewhat shocked Yohko in after her. "You know, it occurs to me that I'm very lucky that you're a doctor and not a cop. And sometimes I still can't believe you're with me."

"Well, maybe you should stop talking and kiss me before I change my mind." Yohko teased, recovered a bit from Midori's insane statement, which after everything else the Watcher had told her over the years, hardly surprised her at all. Well beyond the slight shock factor of learning that magick had more erm, side effects than she had been aware of until now.

Midori obediently leaned in to briefly kiss smiling lips before pulling back to gaze into weary blue eyes. "You look so tired babe." She said sympathetically, bringing a hand up to run through her lover's shoulder length dark hair, gently massaging her scalp, smiling as blue eyes closed and the smaller woman made a noise that might have been a purr. "Why don't you go ahead and take a bath while I start dinner hmm?"

Yohko smiled wider at Midori's thoughtful suggestion and opened her eyes to look up into her lover's affectionate gaze, smirking faintly as she had an even better idea. She gripped the well worn cotton of Midori's faded black Depeche Mode concert t-shirt and pulled her into a more passionate kiss, loving the way the younger woman responded so enthusiastically to her touch. When she felt rough hands sliding up under her scrub top to caress warm skin, she pulled back from the kiss slightly, "Don't you think that you should join me in the bath? I know you got all dirty playing with that ridiculous new machine of yours."

"Um... But I thought you were mad at me." Midori said her voice husky and surprisingly shy sounding.

Yohko just smirked, "I am. But I'm only mad at you, not myself. I see no reason to deny myself some pleasure after an insanely long day at work just because my lover is an idiot."

Midori grinned and teased slightly, "Lead the way Yohko-sensei." She whimpered as Yohko gave her another searing kiss before grabbing her hand to pull her down the hall towards the bath. _Maybe I'll just order pizza later..._ Was her last coherent thought for a good while.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

Natsuki's small sharp canines were bared in a feral grin, her green eyes narrowed dangerously as she gazed at the screen in front of her through damp sweaty locks of dark hair that had fallen in her face. Even with her supernaturally enhanced reflexes, the muscles in her legs burned as she put the talents of being one of the Chosen to work, trying to follow the seemingly completely random pattern of little blinky pointy arrows scrolling upward at an insane speed on the brightly flashing screen. Her heavy booted feet hit the four glowing arrows of what was basically a giant gamepad under them with force, and the once loose blue and red Spiderman t-shirt now clung to the Slayer's sweat soaked skin.

Now, Natsuki was honest enough with herself to admit that she liked showing off. But she would never do something like _this_ under normal circumstances. Despite the fact that this game was surprisingly difficult, and clearly not aimed at normal humans, she was certain that at this very moment she looked like a complete idiot. For now though, any thoughts of her dignity were miles away as she studiously ignored the trio of small boys who were standing off to her right gawking at her like she was some sort of freak. All because out of the corner of her left eye she could see Shizuru watching her with a child-like grin on her face, and occasionally hear her musical laughter when Natsuki managed to pull off a particularly impressive move.

After a perfect completion of two more insanely difficult but ridiculous dance numbers, Natsuki finally surrendered the Dance Dance Revolution machine to the next person waiting to play, bowing comically to the small crowd of nerds who had gathered to watch her skills when they applauded her enthusiastically. Shizuru let out a happy noise and ran over to hug the slightly shaky Natsuki, ignoring how sweaty her friend was. "My Natsuki is so amazing!" Shizuru exclaimed softly in Natsuki's ear, for once not sounding like a mature young woman and instead sounding more like a squealing fangirl who had seen her favourite idol.

"Hmm..." Natsuki purred, nuzzling her face into Shizuru's soft hair as she enjoyed being held. "Well you know what they say, with great power comes great responsibility to show off for pretty girls." She quipped quietly.

"Hey Natsuki?" Shizuru said, reluctantly pulling away from her friend despite the fact that merely hugging the sweaty dark haired girl was making her dirty. "Who's that man over there talking to Yukino-san?"

Natsuki followed Shizuru's gaze and easily located their small spiky-haired friend even in the crowded arcade. She was standing near the drink bar being chatted up by what seemed to be an older university student, one possibly old enough to even be a graduate student. Yukino's pale eyes shifted around behind her round glasses nervously, as though looking for someone. At first Natsuki wondered what Haruka could have been thinking leaving their small friend alone in this crowded place. Then she noticed the suspiciously pale skin of the man, a glance outside confirmed that the sun had set. She was suddenly glad the blonde girl was nowhere to be seen. What Natsuki was about to do might be enough to destroy their tentative truce.

"I know him." Natsuki growled out, "From my 'hobby'." She explained when Shizuru looked at her with surprise, rusty eyes widened further when she realized what Natsuki was saying about the man across the room. "Sorry Shizuru, but I have to go take care of this."

"Of course." Shizuru replied, though her red eyes were worried as she watched Natsuki head across the room. She noticed the subtle change in the Slayer's movements as she approached the man, _vampire, _her every step seemed to radiate confidence and danger. Anyone who was standing in her way quickly moved, even if they hadn't seen the Slayer, as though they knew instinctively to not come between the hunter and her prey.

"Hey Yukino." Natsuki said soothingly when she reached her friend's side, placing herself between the quiet girl and the attractive male vampire who had been trying to seduce her into being his meal. The Slayer felt her anger flare when Yukino seemed to cling to her, obviously frightened by the aggressive attentions of the older man even though she didn't know just how dangerous he really was. "You're okay now." She reassured her friend, and then slowly turned to glare at the vampire. "You. Leave. Now."

"Why should I? I'm sure your young friend would rather spend time with a successful man like myself than some schoolgirl friend of hers." The vampire spoke in a warm deep baritone voice. Natsuki could see how someone less perceptive than Yukino might fall for his act. Unlike a lot of vampires he was dressed nicely in a business suit and tie, his black hair conservatively cut and styled. "You must just be jealous."

Natsuki scoffed openly, "Even if I didn't know what you are I would object to a man your age hitting on underage girls." The Slayer sneered at him, "What about you is so lacking that women your own age wouldn't be interested?"

"You know what I am?" The apparently young man asked, his confused tone indicated that he had no idea Natsuki was referring to him being a vampire.

"Yeah, _what_ you are." Natsuki said, smirking as she pulled her cross necklace out of her shirt, displaying the polished silver crucifix at him. The vampire flinched involuntarily at the sight of the holy symbol, taking a step back. He kept his human face though. Natsuki was somewhat impressed; a less disciplined vampire might have accidentally displayed his demonic nature already. "So do you want to take our business outside so we won't dirty up this fine establishment with your dust?"

Natsuki felt a bit of pride that the vampire actually looked scared. "Hey... I'm sorry Slayer; I didn't know that this human was yours."

The Slayer rolled her eyes a bit, "Yeah well, if you're going to be killing them, they're _all_ mine. You understand? Unless you've got a receipt on you proving that you buy blood at the butcher shop regularly or something... But you know... since you were hitting on my _friend_ I would probably just not believe you." She growled, stalking in closer to the vampire and shoving him hard in the chest, causing him to stagger back a few steps.

"What's going on here?" The voice of Haruka easily cut through the excited murmur of the crowd that had assembled to watch what they all hoped would be an awesome fight. "Kuga? What the hell are you doing?" Natsuki thought that Haruka managed to sound exactly like a disappointed teacher watching a favourite troubled student lighting up a cigarette behind the school building.

"This pervert was trying to pick up Yukino." Natsuki explained, never taking her eyes off of the vampire, knowing that at this point if she turned away for even a second he would try and make a run for it.

"Oh." Haruka's own voice turned dangerous as she put a protective arm around Yukino's shoulders, "Well in that case, have at him."

Natsuki smirked, Haruka certainly operated with a completely different set of rules when it came to Yukino. "Of course. We were going to take our dispute out back. It won't take long." Natsuki quipped, grabbing the hapless vampire's arm and twisting it painfully behind his back before shoving him towards the rear door of the arcade that opened into a narrow alley. As soon as the door closed behind them, Natsuki shifted her hold on the vampire so that her hands were on either side of his head. In one move she kicked his feet out from under him and twisted his head hard, instantly snapping his neck before he could even try and fight back. After a brief glance up and down the small alley, she was heading back into the arcade alone, casually brushing a bit of dust from her shirt she paused for a moment as a thought occurred to her. There really hadn't been much vampire activity at all closer to her school's campus since the first night she stayed there. She shrugged; maybe the vamps were finally getting the message. She wondered idly if her friends would want to go for pizza before heading back to the dorms.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

UC Sunnydale, Sunnydale California; same time

A curvy blonde girl sat in her darkened dorm room staring out the window at a campus devoid of lights. The power was out, but the full moon still bathed the grounds with pure silver light. It gave the whole town the appearance of newness and the possibility of magick while at the same time casting eerie shadows, making one not quite certain if the object they were seeing in the distance was just a small tree, or maybe some dangerous creature of the night. And that was a question that in Sunnydale, California it was vitally important to know the answer to.

Tara had known when she moved here to go to school a year and a half ago that there was an active Hellmouth in Sunnydale. But still, UC Sunnydale was the only university that would give her a good enough scholarship so that she could afford to attend, and her need to get out of her father's house was far too great to be worried about taking risks. The abuse he had put her through after her mother had passed away from breast cancer had been horrible. She had known even before she lost her mother that he was a bad man, but her mother had protected her from him all she could. She also taught Tara about her magick when he wasn't around, even though her father forbade its practice. Tara often wondered why her mother never left him when she had the chance, but she didn't blame her mother. The fear of the unknown could be a difficult thing to overcome, and her mother had Tara and Donnie, her older brother to think of. And even if her mother had never had the means to leave him herself, in her will she had left Tara enough money to help her get out of her small town and afford to go to college as a last gift for her daughter.

_And I even met the love of my life here mom. I wish you could have met her..._ She shivered slightly, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging her arms around them, hoping to find some comfort. "Willow." She murmured into the dark, caressing the name of her loved one with her voice. She had met the quirky redhead at a Wiccan Circle group meeting on campus. Although the two of them were witches, rest of the group consisted mostly of new agers and feminists, no actual witches among them. Tara had joined them when she'd first come to the school last year. She had never really fit in, but she had wanted a group of people to celebrate Halloween and Solstices with, things like that... and they did have a lot of bake sales, so even if the other girls thought Tara was a little odd, they appreciated how awesome she was at making brownies. So she'd continued to go to the meetings because just having some people to talk to, even if they didn't understand her, helped her feel a little bit less alone in the world.

But then earlier this year Willow had started attending the meetings. Willow hadn't noticed the shy blonde Wiccan at first, as Tara was never one to speak up in a crowd, but even from a distance Tara found herself completely intrigued by the slender girl with brilliant red chin length hair, sharply intelligent green eyes and a quirky smile. That was until one fateful day when Willow had finally broached the subject of their Wicca group actually practicing casting magicks. When the other girls in the group had ridiculed the redhead, Tara had attempted to speak up and defend the idea but had quickly quieted when suddenly everyone in the room was looking at her. She had reflexively tried to hide her face behind her hair, a shy response ingrained in her by her family and the other people in her small rural hometown who had treated the young witch like a pariah. But just as she was trying to hide within herself, she glanced up and saw the red haired witch looking at her, a contemplative look in her kind green eyes. When their eyes met for the first time, Tara felt her heart stop. And when it started beating again, Tara knew that it would only ever beat for Willow. They hadn't even spoken, but Tara felt their magicks calling to one another.

A day later, everyone in Sunnydale suddenly lost their voices and the town was overrun with demons that still gave Tara nightmares. Tara had decided to brave the dark campus to search for Willow. She had hoped that together they might be able to cast a spell to return everyone's voices. That had been her hope. But what she found was so much more.

When she was walking across the campus she had drawn the attention of the demons. Running into Willow's dorm building, she immediately started pounding on doors, hoping that someone would let her in so that she could try and hide from the ruthless demons that were cutting peoples' hearts out. But she couldn't say she was really surprised when no one answered their doors. One had opened only to reveal the monstrous smile of one of the demons. So she continued running, even though she was beginning to think that she wouldn't be getting out of this situation alive. But then she found out that Willow was even more special than she knew. While everyone else was hiding safe in their locked rooms, when Willow heard Tara's frantic knocking, the gallant redhead had headed out of her room to see what was wrong, running into Tara in the process. The two witches then fled together down the halls, looking for somewhere, anywhere to hide, until they were trapped in the laundry room. She could hear the shuffling feet of the demons' minions coming down the hallway towards them. They had attempted to move the soda machine to barricade the door, but neither of them was strong enough.

Willow sat heavily on the hard tile floor and narrowed her eyes determinedly at the soda machine. If she had her voice, Tara would have let out a cry of surprise at the amount of pure power she felt stirring in the small room when Willow began to try and move the soda machine with the force of her magicks. Tara had practiced casting simple spells with her mother, so she knew what it felt like when another witch was casting nearby. Still, with the amount of power Willow had, Tara wouldn't have been surprised to learn that the slender redhead was actually a goddess in disguise. But for all her power, the soda machine would barely budge. Tara could tell that the redhead was trying to move the heavy object through brute strength and will. She wasn't relaxing and letting her magick focus and flow properly.

Tara didn't hesitate. She knelt down next to the heavily breathing redhead and reached out for a pale slender hand, trying to suppress the pleasant feeling of their fingers intertwining so perfectly, as though their hands were always meant to be touching. Willow had turned to look at her when she felt Tara's touch, her big green eyes widening at the feeling of the blonde's magick touching hers, focusing it. And there was something else in those forest green eyes as they searched her own, a question that even if they had their voices, Tara knew that Willow wouldn't be able to ask her. But still, she nodded. _Yes, I'm yours. Always and forever, only yours._ Together they returned their focus to the soda machine, and they were both surprised at the force with which it flew across the room to the door, making them safe from the frightening demons outside.

After that night they had slowly started to get to know one another. Over the next couple months, Tara had felt all of her dreams slowly coming true. This beautiful redhead who Tara would have been afraid to even speak to before for fear of being ridiculed, had turned out to be an amazingly brave and kind young woman. Their friendship had started out slowly, tentatively. At first their meetings were mainly just the two of them getting together to practice their magick. But with the way their magicks felt when they joined them to one another to cast together... it was like they were two streams that were always meant to merge into one river. And the way Willow's power felt; washing over her, thrusting into her, pulling her very essence into Willow's own... well it felt just like sex. Tara blushed even now as she thought of it. It just seemed inevitable that their new friendship would grow into something more.

It was difficult though. Unlike Tara who had always known that she was a lesbian, for the last couple of years Willow had had a boyfriend. Willow had assured her that just because she had dated a boy before, that didn't at all mean that she didn't find Tara attractive. Willow had spent hours and hours these last few weeks using the most enjoyable methods to try and show Tara just how attractive she thought the blonde Wiccan was. But sill Tara had lived in fear of what would happen if Oz, the werewolf, Willow's first love, ever came back.

Willow had finally introduced her to her other friends a couple of weeks ago. And Willow's friends had been so kind to her. The Slayer, Buffy, was Willow's best friend, and had warmly accepted Tara into the small circle of people that she protected more fiercely than any others from the creatures that lurked in the night. Xander, Willow's first friend, was a kind young man with a wonderful sense of humour whom Tara had felt herself warming to immediately. And Mr. Giles, Buffy's Watcher, seemed to be something of a mentor to her Willow and had been nothing but polite and friendly to her, offering her tea and praising her magickal skills when she had helped their group out when Buffy had somehow switched bodies with the other Slayer, Faith. But the redhead had still been afraid to come out as gay to them, so as far as they knew she and Tara were just friends.

And Tara understood better than anyone Willow's fear. The fear that just maybe... if those closest to you knew everything about you, they wouldn't want to be friends with you anymore. And then you would be left alone. So even as all of Tara's hopes and dreams had come crashing into reality yesterday morning when Oz had appeared in Mr. Giles' living room, Tara couldn't bring herself to either be angry at Willow or to try and convince Willow that she should be with herself instead of Oz. When a scared and confused Willow had appeared at her door earlier this morning, she had reassured the tearful redhead that no matter what her choice was, the two of them would remain friends. And that all she really wanted was for Willow to follow her heart and be happy. She had still held onto some stubborn hope that Willow might choose her; after all their love might be new, but it was so powerful, surely Willow would think twice before letting go of it.

But then this afternoon, an encounter with the young werewolf had ended with his emotions getting the better of him. He had changed into his feral form and gotten himself captured by the Initiative. A US military group operating on campus, that as far as Tara could tell, was performing experiments on demons that she would have to call inexcusably cruel, even if most of the demons were creatures who would kill humans without a second thought. She had immediately gone to Willow to tell her about Oz's predicament. Even though Tara was sure that her actions were pushing the two estranged lovers back together, she couldn't allow her concerns for her own happiness to factor into this. Oz needed Willow's help.

And so now here she sat, alone in her room. Her deep blue eyes still scratchy from all the tears she had cried earlier, gazing out across the dark campus which was currently experiencing a blackout so that Willow could rescue the man who had been the love of her young life. Suddenly there was a knock at her door, and she felt her heart skip in her chest as she rose from her chair to answer it. _Willow._ She felt her magick reaching out to the redhead almost before she opened the door to see her love, standing in her doorway holding a large candle in her hands. The bravely flickering flame, so like the girl holding it, made Willow seem much like the benevolent goddess Tara sometimes pictured her as. There was a mysterious little smile on those lips that Tara longed to kiss again. Even if only one more time.

"No candles? Well I brought one... It's extra flamey." When the slender redhead spoke, her voice was slightly hesitant, as though she knew she had done something wrong. But it was also laced with a hint of the playfulness she often displayed when they were just spending time together. Despite knowing that Willow was probably here to try and break her heart gently, Tara felt her lips turning up in a hint of a smile as she stepped aside to allow Willow into the sanctuary of her room. "Tara, I have to tell you-"

"No, I understand..." Tara interrupted her, not wanting to actually hear Willow speak the words she knew were coming. She breathed in deeply, trying to force the tears that were threatening to overwhelm her down long enough to get the words out. "You have to be with the person you l-l..l-love."

The redhead's smile only widened a bit at Tara's bravely spoken words, knowing as she heard them that she had made the right choice. "I am."

Tara felt her heart stop beating again for a moment, and she could feel her magick reaching out again to Willow's, the warm feeling of them intertwining enough to reassure her that this moment was real. That she hadn't just fallen asleep on the chair and begun dreaming. "You mean?"

Willow nodded, her forest green eyes shining brightly in the flickering candlelight, "I mean. Okay?"

"Oh yes!" Tara felt like her heart was going to explode with joy as she allowed herself to finally believe what Willow was telling her. _This _goddess_ wants to be with me! I'm just some shy, clumsy awkward girl, and this goddess says she loves me. _The curvy blonde suddenly felt herself smiling so hard it hurt as her deep blue eyes tried to memorize the sight of her Willow in this moment that she knew she would remember for as long as she lived.

"I feel horrible about everything I put you through." Willow apologized, stepping closer to the blonde hesitantly, as though she still thought it was possible that Tara was going to turn her down. "A-and I'm gonna make it up too. Starting right now."

"Right now?" Tara asked, now smirking slightly as she took in the implications of what this 'making up' might involve. Willow just smiled broader, her forest green eyes mirroring the desire burning in Tara's. Even as the blonde leaned forward to blow out the candle's flame she could feel familiar powerful magick wrapping around her, and she grinned knowing that soon Willow's body would be wrapped around her as well. Setting the candle down on her dresser, she took Willow's hands in hers, their fingers sliding together sensuously as she lead her love enthusiastically towards the bed. Her only thought as they made love for many hours was that she hoped that this was at long last the start of their happily ever after.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

St. Peter's High School Tokyo, Japan; same time

A day that was just beginning in California, with all the hopes of what a new day might bring, was drawing to a close here in Tokyo. Night had fallen only a couple hours ago, but Mai was already dressed in her pyjamas. She was alone in the dorm room she shared with Natsuki, trying to distract herself from her unwarranted feelings of jealousy by folding laundry. She could hardly believe how much her life had changed in the last few weeks. The Mai of a month ago would hardly recognize the girl that she had turned into.

Mai had always prided herself on being a rational girl who didn't take things too seriously. If there was one thing that she had learned from her mother's death and to a degree her brother's illness, it was that life was much too short to spend any of it miserable. Sure, she took some things seriously like taking care of Takumi and trying to do reasonably well in school. But relationships? Mai was smart enough to know that at her age, trying to take something like that seriously was just asking to be miserable. Sure, Mai had dated a few boys in junior high, but she had always made sure that they knew it was nothing serious. Just because she was willing to go to the movies with them or make out with them, that didn't mean that she was going to have sex with them. And if she had wanted to have sex with one of them? Well, she would have made certain that he knew that it was just sex, and that it didn't mean that she wanted to marry him or something. Mai had never been sure if she hated or pitied those girls who after going on one date with a boy, or as was more often the case an older man, already started talking about him like they were going to get married in the summer and then live happily ever after, cooking dinner for him every night and having his babies. No, Mai was more realistic than that; she didn't let herself get caught up in a haze of unrealistic romantic fantasies.

Or at least that's what she had always thought to be true. In the past Mai had always been very careful when it came to picking the kinds of boys that she might pursue a romantic relationship with. She went after the kind of guys that most girls would avoid, ones who she could tell weren't ready to settle down. Tate was just that sort of guy; he was fun and kind and had a great sense of humour. And Mai could tell from just a few conversations with him that he was probably in love with his young friend Shiho, but just wasn't ready to admit it to himself. Hardly the stuff of fairy tales, but it was all she wanted. It meant that their relationship would be just a short-term, nothing serious little fling to keep her entertained for a few months or a year, with minimal drama to deal with when it came to its inevitable end. It fit into her plans for her first year of senior high perfectly.

_But we all know the fate of the best-laid plans of mice and men..._ Mai sighed to herself as she began sorting her socks into pairs, _And none go sideways more often than ones involving matters of the heart. I can't believe I ever thought myself above all that now._ Her mind had been so focused on setting up a fun, stress free school year, that at first she hadn't noticed when her heart started to stray from her plan. And it hadn't even happened completely without warning, she just was either too preoccupied, or indeed for all her over-confidence in such matters, too inexperienced to recognize the signs. But they were there nonetheless. In the warmth inside when Natsuki did little things like carrying something heavy for her or pulling up a chair next to her at their lunch table. It was there in how her heart fluttered wildly when she witnessed Natsuki's displays of bravery or her feelings of complete security whenever the Slayer was around. The way one smile from Natsuki had her immediately thinking of what she could to do to see another. In the way her skin would tingle at the slightest touch from the other girl. And all of those feelings just intensified the more she learned about Natsuki, the Slayer.

Mai was hardly shocked that she was finding a girl attractive, so that in itself wasn't a warning bell for her. Indeed, she had always needed to hide her eagerness at sleepovers when someone suggested that they should practice kissing on each other. After all it was supposed to be just practice; you weren't supposed to enjoy kissing your friends too much. But Mai had always figured that kissing was _fun,_ so obviously if you were kissing someone, especially if they were attractive, you would inevitably enjoy yourself. And Mai could recognize and appreciate an attractive girl, and even if she were looking at things in an objective way she would say that she'd never seen a more attractive girl than Natsuki. So when a couple of nights ago Natsuki had indicated that she thought that Mai was attractive too... well Mai certainly wasn't going to say no to a chance to have some fun with someone so gorgeous. And that was when the rules of Mai's carefully lived romantic life had changed forever. Though looking back on it and seeing how her feelings had been slowly getting stronger every day, it seemed unavoidable that sooner or later her heart was going to let her know how it felt about Natsuki.

And now... well now she was that girl that she had always ridiculed in the past as being just some naive romantic who should know better. She and Natsuki certainly hadn't given each other any promises of forever, indeed there weren't even any promises of right now. But ever since their heated exchange a couple of nights ago, Natsuki was the only thing that Mai could think about. She suspected that if someone asked her about Natsuki, she would be able to go on and on infinitum about how wonderful the dark haired girl was until the person asking the question went screaming off into the night in horror at the level of her obsession. Despite how carefully she had guarded her heart in the past, she knew that she could very easily lose herself to Natsuki, such that the Slayer could destroy her with a few words. And she was already so enamoured that she couldn't even bring herself to fight against what seemed inevitable heartbreak.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud knock at the door, and even though she tried not to, Mai found herself hoping that it was Natsuki on the other side. Perhaps the Slayer had left her keys behind. When she opened the door to reveal Sakura from down the hall, Mai hoped that her disappointment didn't show on her face. At the concerned look she got from a girl who was a mere acquaintance, Mai knew she hadn't succeeded.

"Um... Hey Mai-san. I was hoping that I could borrow some of your fabric softener." The slightly chubby girl said awkwardly, pushing her thick framed square glasses up a large lightly acne-scarred nose.

Mai quickly recovered her manners, "Of course, please come in."

"Thanks." Sakura mumbled, as she hesitantly entered the corner room. "Um... If you don't mind me saying... I'm a little surprised that you're in your room on a Friday night."

Mai shrugged, not one to care if someone was interested in her business... though she might not be willing to share the exact details of her situation with them. "I don't mind if you speculate. You're not wrong actually, I'm not usually one to stay in. ...I guess I just had a long week, so I just wanted to take tonight to relax a little you know?" She gestured to the mostly folded clothes on her bed, "And get a chance to use the laundry room when it wasn't so busy that I might find my clothes still wet and on the floor when I went to check on them because some entitled rich twit stole my machine..."

"That's what I do too." Sakura smirked before raising a hand to rub the back of her neck sheepishly, "Well... and I was already staying in, cause on Friday nights me and my older brother meet up on Battlenet to play Diablo..."

Mai smiled at Sakura as she walked over to hand her the box of fabric softener sheets, "Hey no need to be ashamed. My roommate likes the videogames too."

Sakura looked around the room hesitantly, "But not on a Friday night it seems?"

Mai shrugged, "Yeah, she went out with a group of friends of hers that I don't know that well. But like I said, I'm really tired so I told her I'd rather stay in tonight." She blushed slightly when she could see Sakura studying her closely from behind thick glasses. Apparently that excuse sounded just as lame aloud as it had in her head.

She was most grateful when Sakura just nodded slightly and didn't pry as she pulled a few sheets out of the brightly coloured box before handing it back to Mai. "Well Mai-san, try to do something fun tonight since it is Friday after all, it wouldn't do to waste it all on folding laundry. At the very least just go to bed early and get an unhealthy amount of sleep." The chubby girl gave Mai a wave as she headed for the door, "Anyway thanks so much for letting me have these, if you ever need laundry supplies or anything like that, you know which room is mine."

"Thanks Sakura-san. Tell your brother I said hi." Mai called as the door closed quietly behind the other girl, sighing when she found herself again alone in her room. Even if she and Sakura were hardly close friends, at least the other girl had proved to be a nice distraction from her overly introspective thoughts. She glanced at the clock and saw that it would still likely be a while before Natsuki got home. She looked back at the small bit of laundry that still needed folding, but then she decided to take Sakura's advice and relax a little. After returning the pink plastic laundry basket to its normal place in the small closet and turning off all the lights, Mai sat down cross-legged on her bed to practice the meditation techniques that Midori had started teaching her last night.

Closing her eyes Mai slowed her breathing as she methodically tried to empty her mind of stray thoughts, narrowing her awareness down to just the burn of her magick inside. With each breath she let go of a worry about the future or the past, an emotion troubling or joyful, thoughts of friends, family and especially persistent ones about a certain Slayer. Until all that she was coalesced into the simple act of being. Existing in the now, with no thought of even her own individuality beyond the existence of her breathing and her magicks, as air and energy slowly flowed through her and around her. But then at the edge of her consciousness, a familiar sensation intruded on her peace, and even if the sound of the door opening hadn't alerted her, her magicks were already telling her that the Slayer had returned home.

Still, Mai made no move to rise from her place on the bed, and kept trying to work on her relaxation exercise, pretending as though she hadn't heard Natsuki come in. She heard the Slayer take a few hesitant steps towards her before sighing quietly as she instead grabbed some clothes out of her dresser and then headed down the hall to the bathroom. Moments later she could hear the sound of water as Natsuki apparently started the shower. While Natsuki showered, Mai managed to mostly get back into the state of detached existence that she had been in before Natsuki returned home, though whereas before she had been able to momentarily forget even her own name, she was now unable to forget that the Slayer was nearby.

Some amount of time later, though in her current state Mai couldn't be certain exactly how much time had passed, she heard the water being turned off and the door to the bathroom opening again. This time Natsuki didn't hesitate in approaching Mai, and after a brief pause to put her dirty clothes in her laundry basket, Natsuki climbed onto the bed behind Mai wrapping strong arms around the witch and resting her chin on a slim shoulder as she hugged Mai close. Mai still didn't acknowledge her presence, wanting to see if she could keep better control over her magicks around the Slayer. She could feel Natsuki's contented exhale of breath on her neck as she snuggled closer, apparently perfectly happy just to be near Mai even if the witch wasn't paying any attention to her.

Mai carefully focused on the magicks emanating from the Slayer, wanting to try recharging her magick again, but this time without the destructive loss of control that happened during her first attempt. Midori had said that the best way to do this safely was to completely let go of one's emotions, but since that seemed entirely impossible with Natsuki nearby, Mai decided to try a slightly different approach. This time instead of trying to clear her mind of all her emotions, something that seemed to inevitably bring her body's intense desire for Natsuki to the surface to fill the void, she instead focused on the feelings of peace and safety that she felt whenever the Slayer was nearby. As her perception shifted, this time she made certain to keep her astral self separate from Natsuki's. For a while it seemed to work, and she could feel her magic slowly burning a bit brighter- at least until she felt Natsuki's breath hot against her ear, and calloused palms sliding up under her shirt to caress the soft skin of her belly.

Mai quickly brought her awareness completely back into her body to prevent any accidental destruction, letting out a small sound that was a cross between an annoyed sigh and a pleased whimper. "Natsuki... what are you doing?"

At first Natsuki's only reply was a low rumbling of her voice in Mai's ear like a purr. Finally after another minute of what to the witch was sweet pleasurable torture of light caresses on her stomach that hinted at wanting to go either higher or lower but did neither, Natsuki spoke. Her voice was rough and low, but with a bit of a plaintive quality, "Touching you."

"Gaah, Natsuki!" Mai exclaimed, annoyed with the dark haired girl answering the question in the most literal way possible. She tried to move away, but the Slayer simply shifted her arms slightly and easily held her in place.

"Don't go." Natsuki pleaded quietly, as she held Mai gently but firmly in her grasp, "I missed you." At first Mai stubbornly tried to get up anyway, but after a few moments of feeling the muscles in the Slayer's arms tensing slightly under her hands contrasted with Natsuki's long silky dark hair falling against her neck and the soft swell of her breasts pressed against her back, she forgot what she was trying to do, and instead she allowed herself to simply melt into the pleasant snuggling.

Still her mind remained frantically at work trying to make sense of Natsuki's actions, even if her touch was making it extremely difficult for Mai to put a sentence together. Finally though, there was one question clear in her mind that she had to know the answer to, "Why are you here, touching _me_ like this? When you were out with Shizuru-san all afternoon?"

"Hmm?" Natsuki mumbled, seemingly unwilling to stop her nuzzling against Mai's neck long enough for a proper reply until the witch slapped her thigh lightly. Finally she answered, "I like you."

"Natsuki, please don't do this to me." Mai begged, and instantly the Slayer released her grip and put small amount of distance between them. When Mai turned to face her, Natsuki's bright green eyes visible to Mai even in the darkened room, were shining slightly with concern and perhaps a bit of hurt.

"Do you not want me to touch you?" She asked softly, her voice trembling a bit, as though she might actually start crying if Mai told her that she didn't want Natsuki's affection.

Mai took a slow steadying breath, but her voice was still rough with desire as she replied, "Natsuki, all I want is for you to touch me."

Dark brows furrowed together in confusion, "...Then... why did you tell me to stop?"

Mai looked down at her hands, picking nervously at her short unpolished nails. A sudden lump in her throat made speaking difficult, but she forced the words out anyway. Even if her heart was begging her not to speak them, Mai knew that things would only be worse if they weren't said, "Because... I know you love Shizuru." She spoke softly, her voice cracking over the words, her eyes burning painfully with tears that she stubbornly refused to let fall.

For long moments Natsuki didn't speak, she simply reached out and took one of Mai's hands in her own caressing the back of it slowly with her thumb. Finally she replied, "I do love her." She admitted, but then she raised Mai's hand to her lips and placed a lingering kiss on the knuckles before continuing in a soft but certain voice, "But I love you too."

Hesitant blue eyes looked up into green, and for a moment Mai simply allowed herself to feel the warmth in her heart at those words, despite the fact that Natsuki had a breath before admitted that she also loved someone else. "But Natsuki... eventually you're going to have to choose." Mai insisted, when her brain finally convinced her to stop ignoring reality.

"Why?" Natsuki asked simply, her voice calm and neutral as she waited for Mai's reasons.

Mai found herself becoming slightly annoyed with Natsuki's continued denial of what she considered to be the obvious, "Because, in five or ten years you're going to want to settle down that's why. And I can hardly see Shizuru-san being willing to share you with me."

Natsuki simply gazed into blue eyes sadly as she heard Mai's emotional plea, "Mai... I'm not someone who can be planning her life five or ten years in advance." She looked down at their intertwined hands, "I'm a Slayer. You talk about the inevitability of my choosing someone to settle down with... but I can't promise either of you a future like that." She sighed, gazing at Mai through locks of still damp dark hair that had fallen in her face, "I know we said we weren't deciding anything right away, but Mai... even if we do decide something, you have to understand that. I can't promise you a future. All I can promise is to give you everything that I can of myself for right now. Do you understand?" At Mai's shaky nod Natsuki smiled slightly, "But we don't have to dwell on the inevitable right now do we? And you like me too right?" She leaned forward and kissed Mai's cheek, reaching up to lightly brush her thumb over full lips, blushing as Mai kissed the calloused skin. "And anyway... wouldn't you feel better if we just snuggled for a bit more?"

"Okay." Mai answered softly, her heart speeding up when Natsuki gave her a grin before again wrapping warm arms tightly around her and pulling her close, situating both of them so that they were laying together on top of the covers. Natsuki sighed contentedly as she again snuggled up against Mai's back, keeping one arm securely around the other girl's middle to make sure she stayed close. She murmured a soft thank you into Mai's ear and then quickly drifted off to sleep, as though she were completely undisturbed by what they had just discussed.

Mai let out a shaky breath, her emotions all over the place even as her body felt warm and safe with Natsuki so close. Absently she gently caressed Natsuki's hand that was resting on her stomach, smiling despite her inner turmoil when her touch caused the Slayer to hold her a bit tighter. Carefully so that she wouldn't wake Natsuki, who could sometimes be a light sleeper, Mai pushed up the sleeve of her sweatshirt so that she could run her fingers over the slightly raised dark scars that ran almost the entire length of the Slayer's forearm. The moment she had seen the extent of the scarring on Natsuki's body, Mai had known that the other girl lead a dangerous life; and since then she had only seen more evidence of just how dangerous it was. But until Natsuki had come right out and said it, Mai hadn't realized that the Slayer didn't think she had much chance at a normal future or even any future at all.

As she really allowed it to sink in, Mai felt a silent sob escape her throat and the tears that had threatened earlier at the thought of Natsuki choosing Shizuru over her now began to fall unchecked. Though the pain she was feeling now was so much worse than that, because at least in that scenario she could imagine that Natsuki was happy. Then it was as though the sleeping Slayer sensed her distress, her hand caressing Mai's stomach in a comforting way through the thin fabric of her shirt, while her soft lips brushed lightly over the sensitive skin on the back of Mai's neck, causing her to shiver and press herself into the touch. _Gods Natsuki, even if you say that I shouldn't be planning on a future with you in it, I already can't imagine my life without you. _But tomorrow night they were doing the Ritual of Separation, and Mai knew if that went wrong, then Natsuki's fears might be proved completely founded much sooner than either of them anticipated. _You did warn me that if I let you touch me I'd be only yours. Though I don't think you knew just how true your words were. I'm sorry Natsuki, but even if you can't offer me forever, I'll always be yours. _Even as Mai worried that her troubled thoughts would keep her awake all night, it wasn't long before the comforting feeling of strong arms wrapped securely around her and the soft, warm caress of Natsuki's breath on her neck lulled her into a deep and dreamless sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER: It has been pointed out to me that my status as an apostate from the Church of Shiznat may very well lead to my being hunted down and executed by an army of angry Shizurus. But you know what? In the moments before they flayed me alive with their sharp pointy naginata and fed my still bleeding corpse to their gianormous many-headed squid-snake monster; I would be squealing like a fangirl being all like "ZOMG look at all the pretty Shizurus!"

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

Tokyo, Japan; Saturday April 21, 2000

Two women and two teenage girls, all dressed in comfortable dark clothing, stood on the cracked asphalt of a parking lot behind a typical apartment building. The late afternoon sun's harsh glare cast long shadows on the dark pavement, but the quiet group tried to ignore the obvious signs of the approaching night and instead focused on the comforting feeling of the fading orange light warming their skin. The two adult women were next to a giant red and black striped ATV, Yohko leaning confidently against the side of the vehicle watching with an amused quirk to her lips as Midori went through the contents of her tightly packed rucksack, triple checking that all of the items for the ritual they were casting tonight and her emergency supplies were all squared away.

The two teenagers sat a short distance away on a cement parking block, Mai snuggled close against Natsuki's side, a visibly worried expression on her face. The Slayer had a comforting arm around Mai's shoulders, but her expression as she idly picked at the laces on her boot with her free hand could best be described as bored. "Yo Midori, you done counting all your snivel gear yet?" She questioned in a bored monotone after a few more minutes of waiting. Mai gazed at Natsuki with a bit of confusion, wondering how it was that she seemed almost eager to be going into this dangerous situation.

She turned her worried blue eyes to Midori as the older woman replied, "Um... I think that I accidentally left the stinky yak cheese in the fridge."

Natsuki almost started to get to her feet, though slower than normal as she was reluctant to make Mai move, but then her brain finally processed what Midori just said, "Wait the _what_?"

Midori laughed as she tied shut her rucksack and stood up to face the two teenagers, "I'm just kidding, this spell doesn't need that stuff."

"_This_ spell?" Natsuki questioned incredulously, her small nose wrinkling slightly in disgust.

The Watcher shrugged, "What can I say, sometimes magick calls for one to have to do some unpleasant things."

Natsuki looked at Mai speaking in low serious tones, "You aren't learning those."

The new witch just smirked at Natsuki slightly before turning to Midori, "Could you use mayonnaise as a substitute ingredient?"

The Watcher smiled approvingly to finally see Mai emerging from her quiet and nervous state, but instead of returning the banter she moved on to the matter at hand. "Are you sure you're ready for this Mai-san?" She asked kindly, trying to give the girl the illusion of choice in the matter. Though honestly at this point if she said 'no' Midori was going to simply try and change her answer to 'yes'. Even if she suspected her Slayer would fight her on that point.

Still, even though Midori was willing to push Mai into this if the situation called for it, she was relieved when the orange haired girl gave her a firm nod. "Don't worry Midori-san, I won't let you down." Mai replied, her voice having the earnest and steady quality of a soldier telling a superior officer that the mission would be completed, no matter her own fears. The Watcher gave her Slayer's witch a faint smile and a playful salute in return. _My Natsuki managed to find us a good one. This nutter plan of mine just might work. I only hope that my Slayer can forgive me once she actually sees this ritual's effects._

As the others joked around, Yohko remained quiet, though she did occasionally smile at Midori indulgently, amused as always to see her lover interacting with the two teenagers like she was one of them. The emergency room doctor had already quickly gotten herself into the mental state that she used when she went into a particularly difficult surgery, so while the others used humour to get the other rookie ready to face her fears, Yohko was already in the right frame of mind. Though she was far from ready to _fight_ something, she was only ready to think on her feet and respond quickly in the most effective way possible. And though she was ready, if she were being objective about matters, she couldn't deny that she was feeling a bit out of her element. But even if she was nervous, she was experienced enough to not allow nerves to affect her performance. Of course she was apprehensive; after all it had been years, indeed over a decade if she were to admit her exact age to someone, since she had been the junior doctor in the ER. But tonight that's effectively what she would be. She was nothing though if not adaptable, any instructions that Midori or Natsuki gave her... well, Yohko was ready to carry them out quickly and without hesitation.

The doctor was brought back from her musings by the feeling of Midori pressing something into her hand. Her eyes widened in surprise, "You're giving me the keys?"

The tall redhead shrugged, smiling knowingly, "I just thought you might want to drive. Natsuki's going to be riding ahead of us since I don't actually know where exactly this place is... and you're just as good a driver as I am so..."

Yohko rolled her eyes, even as despite herself she was touched by Midori's thoughtfulness. The redhead had likely figured out that Yohko was feeling a bit uncomfortable in her position as someone just following instructions, so here she was offering the doctor a chance to be in charge for a little bit, even though Yohko knew how excited Midori was about the new vehicle. "Thank you love, even if you're crazy you can be surprisingly sweet sometimes can't you?"

The doctor smirked when Midori actually blushed a bit at her backhanded compliment, "I guess I have my moments."

Ten minutes later they were driving down some of the less travelled side streets on their way through this residential area of the city and out into the surrounding countryside. Yohko was honest enough to admit at least privately that the huge vehicle was pretty fun to drive, especially with Midori pressed close against her back, her long arms wrapped loosely around the doctor's slim waist. She smirked to herself as she imagined the looks on the faces of some of the junior doctors on her emergency room staff if they ever saw her driving this thing... though the fact that most of them knew that she was romantically involved with Midori would mean that they would be less shocked to see their boss' wild side than they would have been five years ago. _As though every emergency room doctor isn't a bit of an adrenaline junkie._

A short ways ahead Mai was clinging tightly to Natsuki, allowing the exhilarating feeling of weightless flight that she always felt when she was on the other girl's motorbike to chase away any lingering nervousness. She was frankly surprised at how almost all of her apprehension had suddenly just vanished as the event approached. Having never been in a situation like this before, last night she had been worried that she would never be able to get into the calm state necessary for this ritual to work. But it seemed that she didn't know herself as well as she had thought.

Of course there were other reasons that she was more confident now. Natsuki being the kind girl that she was had noticed Mai's nerves when they woke up early this morning and asked what was bothering her the most. When she had expressed her concerns about being completely helpless since she didn't know how to fight at all and didn't know how to use her magicks to defend herself either, Natsuki had helpfully pointed her to a website run by an online friend of hers that had some simple spells that only required a very basic knowledge of magicks to be very effective. At first Mai could only be surprised that there were websites about that sort of thing when until a couple weeks ago she hadn't even known magicks were real. But when after only a few minutes looking over the website... and an unfortunate incident during which Mai set off the fire alarms for their dorm causing most of the girls who lived there to be extremely annoyed with her, since she and Natsuki had been awake rather early for a Saturday... Mai realized she wasn't nearly as helpless as she had thought.

The sun was just sinking below the western horizon completely, its last dark red rays surrendering to the deep blue of twilight, when Natsuki eased her motorcycle onto a horribly maintained dirt road that was barely more than a muddy and bumpy break in the thick forest. They hadn't been travelling down the road long when Mai's new awareness of the magicks around her began telling her loud and clear, even with her inexperience in such matters, that this place they were approaching must be some sort of area of magickal convergence or something. But Natsuki had told her that the Hellmouth was located under Yohko's hospital. Mai wondered if this place was something similar, or something else entirely.

Midori was far more in tune with the mystical forces around her than Mai even though she lacked the power to control them more than a little bit, as a Watcher she knew that it was vital that she be able to recognize the feeling of powerful shifts in nearby magicks. This ability wasn't a natural gift like a Slayer had, but after years of carefully training the small amount of magick that she did have access to, Midori was almost as good at it. But as they travelled down the sorry excuse for a road and crossed into some sort of mystical perimeter, it took all of Midori's discipline honed from years of fearlessly facing the unknown to prevent her from painfully tightening her arms around Yohko's slender waist. Wherever they were going, the magicks here were like nothing Midori had ever felt before. They weren't the dark magicks that would seep from a Hellmouth, or a place where someone had performed a powerful dark ritual and left a residual. It was just as Natsuki had said, the magicks felt clean and neutral, like the kind absorbed from the Earth itself... except that they were clearly not from the Earth, and present in quantities that couldn't be naturally occurring. Even a powerful mystical being like a Slayer wouldn't emanate magicks that someone of Midori's ability could detect at such a distance without using a spell specially designed for that purpose. After ten more minutes or so of careful driving, they came to an empty clearing in the forest and Natsuki slowly brought her motorcycle to a stop, pulling off to the side of the road that ended here so that Yohko could pull her vehicle up next to it.

"Is this the place Natsuki?" Midori asked, even though it was quite obvious that there wasn't a monastery here, or indeed any sign of human activity at all baring the road itself that looked like it might not have been travelled by anyone but Natsuki for many years. Though the sun had set about fifteen minutes ago, from the headlights of the vehicles and the light of the still nearly full moon just beginning to climb over the horizon, she could see that clearing was more of a natural break in the forest than something caused by the actions of humans. The tall uncut wild grasses were littered with slowly rotting trunks of several huge fallen trees and giant boulders a few of which probably weighed many tons. Midori speculated that they came from a rockslide further up the mountain, though from the vegetation growing up around an on them they must have been here for centuries, indeed the event that placed them here might have been caused by a glacier retreating north at the end of the last ice age. She could smell the faint scent of wildflowers and the earthy smell of the decaying trees, and hear what sounded like the faint scurrying of wildlife out of sight in the trees, but there was absolutely no sign of civilization here.

"Yeah, this was the place." Natsuki replied her voice muffled by her helmet's visor was tinged with confusion. For a moment she simply stayed on her bike, propping up its resting weight with a booted foot. Sharp green eyes carefully studied the clearing. She had only been here once, but she still recognized that this was definitely the right place. After all, this was the correct road, and the monastery was in the first clearing before... so everything she knew about basic physics said that it should still be here. Though she had seen enough in her life to know that just because the physics of the world at large wouldn't allow something, in her universe, sometimes in certain areas they would start to act well... differently. The Slayer herself was living proof of that phenomenon. Of course that didn't help her right now. They _had_ to be able to do the Ritual of Separation, so the Slayer had no choice but to fix this.

Suddenly it was as though a stray thought she had caused the neurons in her brain to form new pathways, connecting her conscious mind to memories she knew that she had never experienced. But yet there they were, as vivid as though she had lived them yesterday. Her many years of slaying and being exposed to all manner of different magickal effects allowed Natsuki to ignore the bulk of the information suddenly flooding her brain and instead quickly hone in on the piece that would be useful to her right now. The large dark grey irregularly shaped boulder in the centre of the clearing about fifty meters away was familiar to whoever or whatever these memories originally belonged to.

Almost in a trance, she put up the kickstand on her bike and threw her black leather clad leg over the side. The Slayer still maintained enough presence of mind to warn Mai to stay back with Midori and Yohko for now, after all she didn't know exactly what was going to happen if she followed this impulse, and the last thing she wanted was for the girl that she was starting to care for so deeply to be injured. She padded cautiously across the clearing, stepping carefully to avoid fallen branches or smaller rocks, moving out of the beams from the headlights so that she could study the huge boulder with her night vision. She could see that it was covered in the mysterious flowering vines that had grown around and over the statue in the monastery, which confirmed for her that the memories that had suddenly appeared in her mind were at least mostly accurate; and this place was definitely connected with the ancient glow.

As she reached the well weathered rock she noted idly that it seemed to be rather different from the kind that made up the surrounding mountains, but she tamped down on her scientific curiosity about the thing's origins and instead studied it to try and figure out what exactly she needed to do. As she rounded the side of the rock that was facing away from the road, her eyes were drawn to a barely visible indent on its surface, that she never would thought anything of or indeed even noticed at all without the new memories in her mind. Following the memory's knowledge of what to do next, she stepped forward and placed her hand palm down on the surface of the rock. She gasped slightly as she felt the familiar strange touch of the glow's magick, similar to and yet so different from Mai's. The glow's magick, unlike Mai's, was somewhat painful to her. It didn't seem that the magick was intentionally trying to hurt her though, just like it was incompatible with her in some way. A moment after it touched her, the glow seemed to recognize her in some way and withdrew. When it left her body, the whole clearing was immediately suffused with a pale green light and after a moment the walls of the monastery materialized around her, and she was standing in the large room on the first floor with her hand touching the outstretched palm of the white marble goddess that guarded the entrance into the glow's chamber. _Aah... I guess that explains how the last demon got in without knocking... though how would it know how to activate the rock? And what about the monks outside? _

Natsuki stopped contemplating too carefully when the mostly unanswerable questions started piling up in such quantity that her brain hurt slightly. A knock at the main door of the monastery a short while later answered one of her questions, apparently if the building was visible for even one person, it was visible for everyone. As for how the demon would be able to activate the statue when the monastery building was already visible? Well they were from another dimension already, so maybe they perceived things differently than normal Earth animals.

Walking over to open the door she greeted the others, but when Midori started to walk through the door Natsuki put her hand out to indicate for her and the others to stay outside. "Do you think there would be enough residual energy from the summoning spell to do our ritual outside? I would feel wrong about causing another demon to show up inside here and trash the place again. I feel like this is her home." Natsuki explained.

"Her home?" Midori questioned as she backed away from the door and indicated that Natsuki should come outside since Natsuki was right that outside would be better even without the potential ethical issues. The close quarters of the small building could end up being a trap for them depending on what kind of defence the hostile caster could mount against them.

"The ancient glow."

"...how do you know it's a girl?" Mai asked suspiciously as she fidgeted uncomfortably with the thick leather vest she was wearing. She wasn't used to the heavy material, but Midori had told her that it was better than nothing for protection against potential flying debris and the like.

"Um... well I guess I don't know that the glow _is_ a girl, she just seems to see herself as one. There's a statue of a young female in the main room that seems to be a representation of her." Natsuki explained. Mai hoped that she didn't look too visibly relieved that Natsuki's deduction had come from such an innocent observation.

After a bit of looking around the grounds outside the old wood and stone building, they found a large cement patio around the back. One that Natsuki was almost certain hadn't been there on her first visit here. Like her first trip through the labyrinthine tunnels out of the underground chamber, it was as though the mysterious building had sensed what she needed and modified itself slightly to accommodate her.

"Alright, I think this will work perfectly." Midori confirmed as she gingerly removed the heavy rucksack, placing it carefully on the ground, as some of the items inside were fragile. She began removing the various things from her pack that they would need, they had practiced this morning so that everyone involved with casting the spell knew their part now. Yohko approached confidently and grabbed a tall dark coloured frosty glass jar and immediately began pouring the finely powdered dark green sand for the large casting circle, big enough to easily hold four people, that they would need. After completing the primary circle she turned her eyes briefly to the sky, looking at the stars that were visible in the now darkened sky as well as the compass she was holding to make certain that she drew the symbols for the cardinal directions in the correct locations. Mai followed behind her placing unlit candles made from sage and dragon's tallow on top of the symbols, and also at the points halfway in between them.

Midori watched them for a moment to make certain that everything was being set up correctly. After a brief glance to Natsuki who was standing off to the side pacing back and forth restlessly as she watched for any dangers, Midori turned back to the rucksack and pulled from it the one extremely rare item that they needed for this ritual. They would not have been able to cast the Ritual of Separation without it, and it was highly serendipitous that Midori had one or indeed even knew how to recognize what this item even was. The item in her hand was a foot tall white stone-carved statuette that she had found on a Watchers' Council expedition to the Negev desert in Israel. The Council's science team had carbon dated the statuette, which was in remarkable condition, as being at least three-thousand years old; though as it had been found in a small rocky cave in the vast wastelands that their expedition's warlock could tell was experiencing time more slowly than the surrounding area, there was no telling how old the little stone dragon really was.

She took a moment to study the piece more closely. Out of all of the various magickal artefacts in her vast collection, this one was one of her favourites. The little dragon, carved from a heavy pale grey almost white stone, was so old that it must have been created using very primitive tools, but the detail on him was so incredible that sometimes when Midori looked at the stone she could almost imagine him coming to life. It was also a strange piece to Midori personally because of the almost uncanny way the carving seemed to have been made in a style that so strongly resembled that of Shizuru's late mother Sakuya's. She was fairly famous in local art circles in Japan for her carvings being so intensely detailed, and the way this little dragon was detailed enough to show each scale on his smooth skin, the sharp points of his talons, the small pointed ridged scales above his eyes that seemed almost like eyelashes... well if Midori hadn't been the one to pull it out of a cave that obviously had been sealed for who knows how many centuries and seen the scientists doing the carbon dating on it, she might have sworn that this was one of Sakuya's.

At a soft touch on her arm she shook herself out of her brief moment of mourning for a woman who in her healthier years had been almost an aunt to her. She looked up from the statuette to see Yohko standing in front of her, a sympathetic look in her eyes. "It's ready."

"Sorry, I was miles and years away."

"It happens to the best of us, especially those of us with more years behind us to get lost in." Yohko replied softly, for once no hint of teasing in her voice. "Are you ready to get started?"

Midori nodded, using her years of practice to immediately put aside her distracting emotions. "Yeah, I'm good to go." She took a moment to look over the circle, nodding approvingly. "Everything looks ready." She glanced at Mai who had come up behind Yohko, "You ready too kiddo?"

Mai smiled slightly, her pale eyes finally clear of any hint of nervousness as she replied in steely tones that Midori hadn't yet heard from her. "I'm ready."

The three women who would be casting the spell took their places in the circle. Midori and Yohko sat facing across from each other at the west and east, while Mai sat at the north facing the small form of the stone dragon. She took a deep calming breath and closed her eyes, falling far more quickly into a state of disconnectedness, only vaguely aware of the sounds of her surroundings as Yohko and Midori began casting. As though from far away she could hear Yohko's strong voice begin chanting in a language she didn't understand, followed by Midori's answer. As they continued to chant, suddenly Mai's hearing seemed to change and she could understand the ancient words, as though some part of her remembered them from long ago.

"_Ayala, guardian of the river through which all magick flows, we invoke thee._

_On this earth, not long past, a being of great power was summoned through realities and time to this place where it does not belong. When it was cast out, its magick flowed through your river home to its source._

_Ayala, guardian of the river through which all the magick of creatures living or gone flows, we implore thee. Allow us passage on your waters so that we may seek the source of this magick._

_A sorcerer of malicious intent seeks to harm us; we ask that you fill this humble vessel with their magick, separate them from the source of their power, that she may know it as you know it._

_Ayala, guardian of the river through which all magick flows, we invoke thee."_

Natsuki stood silently in the shadows, her grip tight on the hafts of her battle axes as her mind wandered slightly, even though she knew she needed to be on high alert right now. Watching magick being cast was always at once beautiful and terrifying to the young Slayer. It was the source of her power, but nothing had ever hurt her like magick had. When she was younger, everything in her world had been stolen from her by magicks. Her mother was murdered brutally by a cruel little warlock who was still on Natsuki's list of humans that needed to be gutted with her claws if she ever saw his slimy face ever again. She still wondered what Nao's life was like these days, and worried if her friend, who she remembered as being so shy, had been able to do alright without Natsuki around to protect her from bullying.

The language that the ritual was written in was strange to Natsuki. It sounded at once more beautiful and yet harsher than Japanese, more flowing and yet each word seemed more clearly separate from the next than in English. Natsuki listened carefully, even though she understood not a word. As the rhythm of the words began repeating, the tall fat candles placed around the magick circle suddenly flared to light. Huge orange flames leapt from the wicks, and plumes of dark grey smoke that filled the area and the sharp scent of sage also began to rise from them as the dragon tallow began to burn. This time as they repeated the chant, Midori and Yohko reached between them into the large flat clay dish of dry black silt, grabbing large handfuls and showering them over the white stone dragon. Natsuki almost dropped her axes when suddenly the ritual began to change completely from the practice run that they had performed at Yohko's apartment.

They repeated the chant for the third time, continuing to gently pour the black silt over the stone dragon who was in a sleeping position, his large oversized head resting peacefully on his outstretched front legs, his giant wings thrown over his face, nearly concealing his eyes as though to prevent any sunlight disturbing his nap. This time when Midori echoed Yohko's chanting of the second stanza, the stone dragon began to wake from his long sleep. As he stirred, stretching out wide nearly transparent wings and letting out a great roaring yawn, that came out as more of a squeak due to his small size, his white skin seemed to be no longer made of stone. After a moment, glowing yellow eyes slowly blinked open as the small dragon lifted his large head from his paws and craned his neck about, his eyes wide as he took in his surroundings. Natsuki smiled despite herself when after brief glances at Midori and Yohko the tiny dragon zeroed in on Mai, craning his head towards her, making a small plaintive noise in his throat that sounded like a cross between a trill and a purr. When Mai didn't respond to his cries, her eyes still closed as she concentrated on staying calm, the tiny dragon rose to his feet, carefully padding around the large dish between the two older women; he approached Mai and cautiously placed a small taloned paw on her knee. At his tentative touch Mai slowly opened her eyes, and Natsuki felt a bit of worry to see that they were glowing the same yellow orange as the dragon's, the same colour of the huge flames from the candles.

All was peaceful as their eyes met, Mai reaching out hesitantly to the tiny dragon, who grasped one of her outstretched fingers tightly in his paws, again trilling softly at her. Mai smiled and raised her other hand to give him a gentle rub behind a raised ear ridge as he purred louder. But Natsuki knew the peaceful moment couldn't last, and she was hardly surprised when the smoke from the candles changed from the neutral grey to a thick deep dark green, sinking to the ground around the magick circle though none of it entered past the protective barrier of the sand. Natsuki found herself choking slightly as she inhaled some of the thick smoke, but concerns for her own safety vanished when Mai's face contorted as though she were suddenly in intense pain, her hands raising to her face to cover her eyes. The tiny dragon also cried out, even as his form changed from a benevolent white kittenish creature to a charred dark grey, the tone of his cries turning metallic as his eyes burned redder. Yohko continued chanting as Midori had instructed her during their practice, even as the sight of the young teenager in pain had the doctor within her screaming that she should stop.

A loud crash underneath shook the building and suddenly cracks began to form in the ground beneath Natsuki's feet, though she was relieved to see that the area in the casting circle was unaffected. As the cracks widened, suddenly creatures began crawling from the earth. Giant centipedes by the dozen, along with other bugs that Natsuki didn't even have names for some with fewer legs and larger mandibles all with small gleaming eyes and glinting hard exoskeletons. The clicking of their hard feet on the cement echoed off of the walls of the monastery as they quickly scurried across the ground towards the circle of casters. They were intercepted by Natsuki who was ready for them, crushing through their brittle carapaces with the heavy blades of her battle axes. The screeching hum of the bugs' exoskeletons scraping against themselves and the crashing of her axes against the cement as they crushed through the countless bodies soon drowned out the sounds of the casters for Natsuki, though she attempted to position herself so that she could keep an eye on them even while fighting, to make certain nothing got past her guard.

Natsuki's arms and legs were burning with the effort of fending off the countless monstrously sized invertebrates by the time there was a brief lull in their flow from the cracks in the earth. She stood breathing hard, trying to ignore the painful stitch in her side as she gazed at Mai. Her stomach turned at the sight of her friend that she cared for, with her eyes clenched shut and her hair darkened to almost black as it clung to her face drenched in sweat and the tears rolling unchecked down her face as her hands clawed at the cement below her as she tried to find some way to relieve the pain from the dark magic infusing her. As if sensing Natsuki's concerned look Mai slowly opened eyes that were no longer blue or even blazing orange, but black in solid black, not even the whites of her eyes were visible. Even though she didn't recognize them, she could sense Mai's fear and she fought with herself to not force them to end the ritual right now. The girl that she cared for was in pain, but they _needed_ to find out who was sending the demons or sooner or later the consequences would be much worse.

The Slayer was forced to look away from her friend when a screaming golden light erupted in the air just a couple of feet away from her. She threw her body out of the way but as she stood up from her combat roll she still she could smell a faint hint of burnt leather from where the sleeves of her jacket were singed. Her eyes narrowed as the light coalesced into a monstrous form. The demon was easily seven feet tall, it would be much taller if it could stand on its two long spindly hind legs, but Natsuki doubted that they would be able to support the weight of its huge pulsating abdomen. Its large hunched over form was translucent in the faint candle light and the silver glow from the nearly full moon. There were six thin deformed skeletal humanoid limbs, some of which with either extra joints or fewer, the pale skin of which hung loosely from bones that creaked loudly as the creature shifted its massive weight between them. Long antenna twitched overtop of a vaguely human face, the eye sockets of which were empty with hundreds of tiny bite marks scarring the still bleeding surrounding flesh. As she watched, large beady black eyes grew inside the empty eye sockets as the skin on the human face itself started to harden and crack before peeling off, revealing a glinting black exoskeleton underneath. Natsuki felt a cold chill as it occurred to her where the human part of these summoned demons might come from, they weren't really human, but she wasn't sure if even she would want to torture a vampire this much.

The demon's new mandibles clicked together excitedly as its antenna carefully felt their way around the area. "So the Champion would have us return here? To this place where we are strongest? She is foolish indeed." The demon hummed in a voice that was neither male nor female, but rather a low hissing vibration of the air. The demon suddenly leapt up vertically, it's long legs propelling it through the air towards Natsuki at great speed, the Slayer having only enough time to bring her weapons up to try and deflect the full body slam of the giant beast as it threw her hard into the concrete. It was strong as it pinned Natsuki to the cold damp ground, its sharp mandibles wrapping dangerously around the soft skin of the Slayer's throat, their very touch burning her skin painfully. And even if it wasn't strong, it was so heavy. Much heavier than something its size should be, and even using all of the considerable strength in her body as she strained against it, Natsuki was unable to make the large beast budge. With the way it was pinning her, Natsuki couldn't possibly swing her weapons, so she dropped them. Her claws came out, frantically scratching at the underside of the demon's heavily armoured abdomen that was pressing against her chest and constricting her breathing. She couldn't even get enough force behind her strikes to do more than superficially damage the surface of the chitinous plating.

As her vision darkened she could hear Mai frantically screaming her name, even though the witch had been nearly incapacitated minutes ago. Suddenly the demon screamed in pain and stumbled off of her, its side singed black and smoking slightly. However, when Natsuki hazarded a glance in the direction of the casters, Mai was again curled into herself on the ground with her eyes squeezed tightly shut, Natsuki felt her heart clench painfully in her chest at the sight but a screeching hiss from the demon reminded her that if she spared a moment of pity for her friend now, they might all find themselves dead. As the Slayer again turned to face off with the demon, her eyes widened when it suddenly exploded in front of her in a shower of fire and charred gore. She thought at first that Mai had somehow managed to cast some amazingly powerful spell on the creature, but when the smoke from the blast cleared, her eyes blinked with surprise at the sight that greeted her.

Framed by the silver moonlight was a feminine figure with long dark trench coat draped around her slender form, distinctive pale nearly white hair blowing behind her in the wind stirred up from the heat of the blast told Natsuki it could only be one person. "I didn't want to give that creature a chance to kill the Champion when I want to do the job myself." Miyu stated flatly, her voice even more emotionless than usual as she levelled her weapon at the Slayer, which Natsuki noticed with surprise was her arm as well as being what seemed to be a rocket launcher.

"Miyu?" Natsuki questioned, confused. Even ignoring for the moment the obvious fact that Miyu was even less human than she was, she couldn't fathom why the girl would be attacking her. Unless...

Faster than Natsuki's eyes could follow, Miyu charged her. A small hard fist collided with her chest, sending the Slayer hurdling back over twenty feet. Natsuki slammed into the side of the monastery, the walls of the building shaking as she crashed into them with enough force to instantly kill a normal human. The Slayer however simply rolled to her feet, and was able to bring her claws up just in time to again be pinned by a being much stronger than she was. _Ugh. What is the point of being supernaturally strong when everyone seems even stronger than I am today?_ Natsuki glared at the other girl, _thing_, feeling betrayed. She had trusted this person, and it was somehow working for the demons? Natsuki growled, "What the hell are you Miyu?"

"If I didn't already know better I would ask the Champion the same question." Miyu replied coolly as she easily held Natsuki in place against the stone wall, the wide still hot barrel of her gun arm shoved hard up under Natsuki's chin, its rough metal scraping and burning uncomfortably against the already bleeding skin on her neck, the acrid scent of gunpowder stinging her nostrils and airway. "But I don't even care what _your_ answer is. You pretended to care, but you're going to _kill_ her!" Miyu continued, some emotion finally leaking into her monotone. Natsuki's eyes widened as she heard the crushing hopeless grief that she recognized instantly even though she had only heard it once before. Sakuya had sounded exactly the same when she had warned Natsuki about her visions where Shizuru was in danger. The Slayer felt a sudden surge of fear as she found herself between two impossible choices. She couldn't allow the glow to be taken and used by whoever was really in charge. But Natsuki just couldn't bring herself to believe that the person who really behind all of this was Alyssa. She wasn't letting Alyssa die, no matter what she was doing. There had to be another way, she just had to buy them some time. She had to act now.

"Miyu, let me go." Natsuki spoke in a carefully neutral voice.

"She is everything to me." Miyu her voice cracking and grating metallically as her slipping emotional control seemed to be effecting her ability to produce human speech. Natsuki could feel the hand pinning her to the wall heating up and despite herself her green eyes shifted nervously to the huge gun that was probably seconds away from blowing her head clean off her body. Natsuki wondered briefly if her own brutal death was the thing that Sakuya had meant would destroy Shizuru. A few electrical sparks flew from around Miyu's eyes. "The punishment for hurting her is your death."

"Miyu. Listen to me. Just let go of me for five minutes, and then if you don't like what I do, I promise you can kill me. You're stronger and faster than me, there is no way that I could escape or hurt you."

For an endless moment Natsuki thought that the android was just going to ignore her plea for a stay of execution and just blow her head off anyway. Then the pale female shifted her gun arm back into a human hand, and punched the Slayer so hard in the face that Natsuki could hear the cracking of some teeth and possibly her nose echoing like firecrackers in her ears. Looking satisfied with the now bloodied face of her betrayer, Miyu let go of Natsuki's shirt, shoving her to the ground hard. The Slayer coughed as she was finally able to breathe easily, her hands rested on her knees for a moment as she breathed in and out heavily, pausing to spit out a mouthful of blood and broken teeth onto the already charred and blood drenched cement. Miyu just glared at the Slayer unsympathetically, "You have four minutes and forty-five seconds."

Natsuki straightened painfully and nodded to Miyu; now that she could breathe easier she ignored the blood freely dripping from her nose and turned to the casters. Midori and Yohko still chanted quietly, ignoring the fighting as well as Mai, though the witch finally seemed like she wasn't in constant pain. Blazing green eyes narrowed as her focus zeroed in on her target, and the little dragon turned to face her as though he sensed a new threat to his existence. He never stood a chance as Natsuki sprinted across the grounds, bursting into the magic circle. She could sense the startled gazes of all of the casters as she suddenly interrupted their concentration, but she ignored them as she grabbed the little beast around the neck. Heedless of his frantic and desperate clawing against her leather-clad arm that was so similar to her helpless struggles against the huge demon a while ago, Natsuki mercilessly threw the little creature as hard as she could from the magic circle and towards the stone wall of the monastery. Unlike the Slayer who had made a similar trip a short while ago, the little dragon didn't fare so well. As soon as his body exited the circle, he was once more no longer flesh but again nothing more than a lifeless stone statuette. When he impacted the hard wall moments later, his body shattered into countless stone shards. Natsuki refused to let Alyssa die. Damn the consequences.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: It seems that I fails at basic math or something and have somehow messed up the dates for the days of the week that happened for the last several chapters. I'll try and go back and replace them with the accurate numbers. Luckily (?) I think I distracted enough people with the brain-esploding MaiNat, so no one has pointed this out to me. Either that or you are all secretly laughing at me because I can't count. :-P Thanks for R&Ring the last chapter when it didn't even have any sexiness in it. You guys rock.

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"Natsuki! What the hell did you do that for?" Midori exclaimed furiously, rising to her feet to glare at her Slayer.

Natsuki just turned and glared back, ignoring her bloody and slightly rearranged face as she stared down her Watcher, "Don't question me." She growled as she turned to kneel next to Mai who was finally coming back to herself enough to open her still black in black eyes to gaze up at Natsuki. Natsuki felt a surge of anger at herself for ever agreeing to allow Mai to participate in this as she wrapped her arms around the exhausted witch. She glanced up at Miyu who was watching them carefully with her eyes narrowed, "That stopped it."

Miyu took a halting step forward again levelling her weapon arm at the small group, this time shifting it into a sword. "Why should I believe a word you say?" She asked, her voice again shaking with grief.

Natsuki carefully let go of Mai, telling her softly to stay still, as she slowly backed away from the others, breathing a sigh of relief when Miyu followed her such that she was no longer pointing her weapon at Natsuki's loved ones. "Midori, come here." Natsuki commanded, still holding Miyu's flat stare. "Miyu, I swear on my life." She grabbed Midori's arm as the Watcher approached her, holding her in front of her with metal tipped claws at the redhead's throat, causing Yohko to yell out her lover's name in panic. "And on the life of this woman, the only family I have. I would sooner kill myself than see her harmed."

Midori glanced at Yohko, trying to reassure the frightened doctor with her eyes even as she tried to clamp down on her own fear suddenly rolling in her gut at having her Slayer's strength turned on her. Knowing intellectually that Slayers were strong and deadly creatures was very different than being held in a death grip by one, knowing that there would be no possible way to escape her unless she chose to let you live. But she knew Natsuki, no matter how damaged the girl had been when they first met, Midori had found that there was a deeply compassionate part of her that the First District hadn't been able to break. Midori took a deep breath and then took a leap of faith, trusting this girl that she loved like a daughter. "The Avatar of Drakonim was the conduit for the ritual. With that one of a kind and priceless ancient artefact destroyed," Midori added with some bit of sadness, the historian in her still reeling a bit from the loss of one of her favourite treasures, "Well, there is no way that we can continue it, nor could we perform it again in the future unless we found another one, which in my professional opinion is just this side of impossible."

Natsuki withdrew her claws and released her hold on her Watcher, gently shoving the woman in the direction of Yohko who was still staring at the Slayer with a look of distrust on her face even when Midori hugged her comfortingly. Natsuki took a deep breath to try and quell the anger at herself and her Watcher for agreeing to perform this ritual if it was so dangerous, and her intense worry over Mai's health, long enough to make certain that Miyu wasn't going to turn all of them into nothing more than a few piles of smoking bone and meat. "Miyu, I swear I had no idea it was Alyssa."

"But you did know that it was extremely dangerous." Miyu said, her voice returning to its normal monotone.

Natsuki approached the android cautiously, "Yes. Dealing with dark magic is always dangerous." Natsuki gestured in the direction of Mai, who still looked like she wouldn't be strong enough to stand, weakly sipping at some water from Midori's canteen while Yohko looked her over. "All we did was absorb some of her magick so that we could trace her. Does casting those spells have that effect on Alyssa too?"

Miyu nodded stiffly, "Ojou-sama becomes very weak if she casts too much. She often experiences the changes in hair and eye colour as well."

"Miyu... your primary function is to protect Alyssa correct?"

Red eyes turned from the slowly recovering witch back to Natsuki. They retained their same flat stare, but Natsuki could tell that a normal human would be giving her a death glare, "Have I not made my position clear enough for the Champion to understand?" Miyu asked dangerously, taking a halting step in the Slayer's direction, lifting her sword arm threateningly.

Natsuki raised her hands in front of her in an appeasing gesture, "I'm not trying to question your loyalty, just bring up a point. What do you think will happen to her when whoever is making her do this gets a hold of this ancient glow?" Natsuki questioned slowly.

"The answer to that question is not in my memory files." Miyu replied flatly, cocking her head to the side as she studied the Slayer more carefully. "Why does the Champion ask?"

"Well, why is it do you think, that they don't want you to know the answer to that question?"

"I... don't know. That is not in my programming." Miyu replied haltingly, as though she were carefully thinking over each word, and what the significance could be.

Natsuki sighed, "Miyu... listen to me. They didn't tell you because if she manages to get this thing, and the person or whatever in charge uses it? Miyu, even if she doesn't die, she isn't going to be your Alyssa anymore."

"If she were alive, she would be my Ojou-sama. She could be no one else. The Champion's statement is illogical."

Natsuki sighed, "Maybe I'm not explaining this right. Listen, do you know about the existence of other realities?"

Miyu spoke mechanically, "Subatomic particles appear to come in and out of existence, some scientists hypothesize when they are not in existence here, it is because they are in another universe. However, there has been no method discovered with which to test such a hypothesis. Also, there is some evidence to suggest that magick can cross the barrier between realities under the correct circumstances."

"Well how do you explain the things that Alyssa can summon?"

"My memory files say that she creates them using her magicks and the power of her own mind."

"Miyu, that's only partially true. Alyssa might shape the creatures using her own power to an extent, but she is pulling the essence of very powerful creatures here from another dimension." Natsuki rubbed the back of her neck as she tried to think of a way to prove this to the legitimately sceptical and distrusting android, "Do you have any way to detect the magicks in an area?" Natsuki asked finally, wondering even as she did how one would create a synthetic module to detect magicks, when all that she knew said that materials that were recombined in industrial processes lost their magickal capacity.

"Yes. The Multiple Intelligencial Yggdrasil Unit contains a combination of mechanical and organic modules for maximum efficiency and the largest possible array of functionality. An organ from a hostile nonhuman entity was transplanted into the organic covering to allow the capacity to detect the concentration, rate of change in concentration, and unique signatures of magickal energies." Miyu replied, her voice suddenly switching from a cold mechanical route reply to a warm, almost nostalgic tone. "It was deemed important that I be able to monitor Ojou-sama's magickal reserves, as she is unable to cast when they are too low."

"Use it right now." Natsuki ordered her voice hard.

Miyu nodded stiffly, raising her human hand to her stomach just under her ribcage, slicing unflinchingly through the leather vest and the skin and muscle under it with a fingernail that had morphed into a surgeon's scalpel. Even the Slayer recoiled a bit at the tentacle-like pulsating bioluminescent appendage that uncoiled dripping with some sort of clear mucosal fluid from the incision. Miyu simply stood waiting for a moment, unaffected by the disgusted and morbidly fascinated stares of the humans. Only Yohko didn't look like she might be sick. After a few moments the appendage began to change colour from pure pale silver to a brilliant green. Even Miyu's normally unresponsive eyes widened slightly, "The concentration of magicks at this location is 7.429 times higher than in a control location. It is also only 5.72 percentage points lower than my records for the magickal energy emitted by an active Hellmouth, which our scientists believe to be a gateway of sorts for dark magickal energy that is emitted from within the Earth. However... the signature of this magickal energy does not match that of any in my databanks." Miyu's voice suddenly sounded uncertain, "The Champion can offer an explanation for this phenomenon?"

Natsuki sighed, "A partial explanation and a theory is the best I can give you, but please hear me out anyway."

Miyu shrugged, "The Champion is the only individual available to answer this new question. I will attempt to locate additional substantiating or disproving evidence of her 'theories' later."

Before Natsuki could reply she was distracted from her thoughts by Mai approaching her on still weak and shaky legs. The Slayer shot her Watcher a disapproving glower, but the older redhead just shrugged helplessly indicating that she'd tried to talk the witch out of getting involved. "Mai, I told you to stay over there and let Yohko make sure you're alright." Natsuki sighed in frustration when Mai just glared at her with blue eyes that were still obstructed by dark blotches; the Slayer noted that her hair was also still several shades darker than normal, more brown than orange.

"That _thing's_ minion almost killed you. I'm not leaving you alone with her." Mai stated firmly, alternating her glare between Miyu and the Slayer herself.

Both of them were startled when Miyu actually made a small noise of amusement, "I understand Champion. My Ojou-sama does not take kindly to things that threaten my functionality either." Miyu lowered her sword-arm, once more shifting it back to appear as a human hand. "Unless she tries to attack me I won't harm her. Explain your theory. Immediately. I must return to my Ojou-sama."

Natsuki nodded and immediately launched into her explanation, "Well, I know for certain that Hellmouths and this location are not places where the Earth is releasing more magicks, but rather places where our own universe is closer to others. I also know that the creatures your Alyssa is summoning, though she might be partially manipulating their appearances by merging them with creatures from our own reality, their essence or soul if you will, already exists elsewhere, and she is using her power to draw them from their reality to our own." Natsuki sighed, her eyebrows drawing together as she tried to find words for the theory that was just now coalescing into a more coherent whole in her mind, though pieces of it had been floating around and popping up to bother her conscious thoughts about why they were confusing for weeks, "Now this is where I am speculating some, so if you have resources available to you to find out if I'm right, well feel free to use them unless doing so would alert the people in charge and cause them to harm your Alyssa."

"Of course."

Natsuki swiped absently at her nose that had mostly stopped bleeding, though it continued to throb dully as though to let her know that it was still not in the correct location on her face. She sighed slightly as she continued, "The demons she summons are much stronger at this location than they were in others. Tonight she was casting with reduced power correct?" At Miyu's nod Natsuki continued, "But what she summoned tonight was physically stronger than anything I've ever fought. Yourself included. It even told me that it was stronger here. I think the reason for that is because this place is closer to its own reality, which leads me to speculate that this glow that I am protecting is some sort of gatekeeper or something between realities. Using it would probably allow countless numbers of those demons that your Alyssa summons in their true form to enter into our own. Now, right now she summons only one or so at a time but controlling them costs her much of her energy. Do you really think that she would be able to control hundreds or thousands of them? And you saw the kindof pain that Mai was in today just from briefly having control of the magicks your Alyssa uses all the time. Miyu, I swear to you that Alyssa would only come to great harm if any of her demonic minions gets its claws on what I'm protecting."

"I will consider the Champion's ideas." Miyu replied, "But if I find out that you have lied to me again, you will get no more chances to-"

"I swear if you hurt her..." Mai interrupted the android her voice nearly unrecognizable to Natsuki it was so threatening, her hand clutched a darkly glowing ball of plasma, her eyes shifting back to pure black in black. Beside her Natsuki desperately tried to soothe the witch's rage, knowing that if her magick got out of control she probably wouldn't have to wait for Miyu to carry out her threats.

Miyu simply levelled her flat red stare at the inexperienced witch, "If Ojou-sama is still alive, I promise not to harm your Champion." Miyu shifted her arm back into its rocket launcher form, levelling its large barrel at the two humans, "But if she is not alive, then your threats are meaningless to me, as I would have no reason or motivation to continue functioning." With that Miyu turned from them, her dark trench coat flowing around her slim form, clearly not worried that any of the humans in the small courtyard, even the superpowered ones, were any threat to her. Then Natsuki blinked once and it was as though the android had simply vanished. Her eyes strained as she searched the dark for any hint of movement, but there was nothing.

Her attention was drawn away from the question of how the android was able to move so quickly when Mai fell to her knees, breathing heavily and clutching her side. Natsuki immediately allowed herself to fall to the ground next to her trembling witch, reaching out to touch her hand that was clutching a leather-clad thigh in a bruising grip. Her breathing caught when the skin she touched was so cold, "Mai! Look at me." Natsuki commanded, drawing black in black eyes to her, "Come on, don't let this control you." She pleaded, reaching out to caress a cold cheek and feeling hurt and a bit of fear when Mai flinched away from her touch. Suddenly she had a thought; the magicks around here had been painful for her even without the complications of having enough dark magick in her to manifest involuntary physical changes.

"MIDORI! We need to get Mai out of here." Natsuki yelled, momentarily setting aside being angry with her Watcher over her part in getting them into this situation in the first place, "The magicks around here, I think they are making her reaction to the dark magick worse." Midori ran up to the two teenagers, though her expression was a bit hesitant as she approached her Slayer. Natsuki growled, "Don't give me that look, you're safe for now. We just need to get her onto your vehicle so we can get her out of here."

Midori nodded, "I'll take her, Yohko can ride with you." Midori winced as she said that, even though the doctor had strangely been the one to request it a few moments ago despite her dislike of Natsuki's motorcycle.

Natsuki shrugged, "I don't care just hurry up." Running to grab their stuff and the two helmets she paused when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning she saw Yohko with a dangerous expression on her face, her blue eyes darkened. With her hands full Natsuki didn't even have a chance to defend herself when the doctor reached out and grabbed her nose, forcibly wrenching it back into place, the sound of her own cartilage scraping against bone echoing in Natsuki's ears. The Slayer let out a loud yell of pain, glaring at the doctor through reflexive tears brought to her eyes, "What the hell was that?"

"What, you didn't want it to stay at that angle did you? With your healing if we waited until we had time to go to the hospital I probably would've had to rebreak it." With that she turned away from Natsuki not waiting to see if the Slayer was following her. She continued talking though, correctly assuming that Natsuki would be only a pace behind her, "But so help me, if you _ever_ treat your Watcher like that again, I will use all of my training to bring you worse pain than that."

Natsuki moved up next to the doctor, looking at her unapologetically, "I did what needed to be done."

"Did you?" Yohko questioned as they came up next to the motorcycle, gazing back at the clearing that once more appeared nothing more than a natural break in the thick forest, "Or were you just angry at yourself and Midori for the pain and suffering you put Mai through when we did that ritual? When you know that we all agreed that the ritual was necessary for the world's safety?" When Natsuki started to dispute her statement, Yohko cut her off, "Save it. I don't want to hear another word out of you right now. Let's just get on this illegal vehicle of yours so that we can catch up to your friend and make sure she's going to be okay."

Natsuki let out an angry huff of breath before turning, facing away from the doctor and forcefully shoving on her helmet. She didn't give the older woman another look as she climbed onto her bike and waited impatiently for Yohko to get on after her. When Yohko climbed on behind her and put her arms around the Slayer's waist, Natsuki recognized it as what she liked to call Yohko's 'doctor touch'. It was a touch that said 'I'm only touching you because it's my job, not because I want to'. Normally it reassured her, the way the doctor was always so professional. Right now though it just served to remind Natsuki of how angry she had been at Midori, and indeed how angry she still was even though she recognized Yohko's words to be the truth.

She growled softly to herself as she disengaged her bike's kickstand. Forcefully firing up the motorcycle she revved it unnecessarily, the loud screaming growl of the Kawasaki's engine echoing her own anger still roiling uncomfortably in her stomach. As she opened up the throttle, causing her bike to leap forward onto the uneven dirt road at unsafe speeds hoping to hurry up and catch up with the ATV, Natsuki found herself desperately wishing that she had Mai's arms around her instead. She missed hearing the girl's carefree laughter in her ears as they sped along, and the way Mai wrapped her arms tight around her, snuggling up against her back like there was nowhere else she would rather be. Natsuki white-knuckled the handlebars of her bike as worry threatened to overwhelm her. _Duran please let her be safe._

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Midori drove the red ATV down the crumbling dirt road between the thick forest as fast as she safely could, driving with only one hand on the steering. Her other arm was wrapped securely around the weakened witch, who seemed to have passed out about five minutes ago. If Midori couldn't feel the faint rise and fall of the teenager's chest against her skin, she knew she would need to be worrying for her own safety because her Slayer would be out for blood. She had taken off her beat up old brown leather jacket and put it around the slim shoulders of the witch when they first got on the vehicle, ignoring the girl's weak protests that she was fine. She had then dug into one of the side pockets of her rucksack and pulled out a few chemical heating pads, crushing them to start them going before shoving them into the inside pockets of her old jacket, hoping that their meagre heat might help warm the weakly shivering witch. _Come on kid, you showed me you were a fighter earlier. Don't you dare give up on me now._

Midori revved the throttle harder, pushing the speed of the massive vehicle up as fast as she dared; tightening her grip around Mai as even the massive tires and artfully crafted suspension of the off-road vehicle weren't enough to protect its passengers from the hard jarring impact from the large breaks in the road. She glanced up at the sky to see that the still nearly full moon now nearly obscured by thick bands of clouds. _Oh God if you love me at all please don't let it rain right now._ She begged to a deity whose house of worship she rarely frequented and whose very existence she questioned regularly. Finally after a trip that seemed much longer this second time even though she was certain she was driving faster, she was pulling her vehicle onto the main road. Noting the soybean farm across the way, she pulled her vehicle into it, ignoring the damage to the crops, concerned only that they were able to get Mai free from the effects of the dark magick as quickly as possible.

A short distance away from the road she whipped the vehicle around so that the high beams were facing the main road, knowing that her Slayer would know it was her. Surely any cops out this way so late at night would also notice and fine her for trespassing and destruction of property, but at this moment she couldn't care less about such concerns. She got down from the tall vehicle, placing her rucksack on the ground before carefully pulling the now barely awake Mai down after her. She had the witch lean against the large vehicle while she pulled a heavy fire blanket from her rucksack, laying it next to a huge tire over small crushed newly sprouted plants, the scent of the diesel fuel from her vehicle's engine and the disturbed earth thick in her nose.

Gently grabbing the still shaky witch's arm, Midori helped her sit down on the scratchy woollen blanket, her back leaning against the muddy rubber of the ATV's front tire. Ignoring the fact that her favourite jacket, a last gift from her late father was probably being permanently damaged, she knelt down in front of the curvy teenager who was looking up at her with unfocussed, but at least now mostly blue eyes. "Mai, listen to me. I don't care how tired you are, you _have_ to get that magick out of your system right now." When there was no change in Mai's expression to indicate that she heard Midori's order, the tall redhead reached out a hand to slap the girl lightly across the cheek. Her hazel eyes displaying no hint of the sympathy she felt when hurt blue eyes finally focused on her, "Damn it girl, listen to me. The magick. You need to get it out now. Natsuki will be here soon, but you have to get the bad magick out before you can recharge."

"...Natsuki?" The weary teenager finally spoke, her voice slurred and weak.

Midori rolled her eyes, _God save me from teenagers in love._ "Yes, she'll be here. But you have to focus on getting that magick out now." Midori breathed a sigh of relief when she felt the air around her starting to heat up and saw a dark glow emanating from around the still weakened teen. She nodded her head approvingly that despite her soft appearance, the young witch was indeed something of a soldier after all.

Moments later the roar of a small engine and the harsh light from a single headlight announced Natsuki's arrival as she navigated her bike down the path already cleared by Midori's vehicle. Almost before Midori could turn her head to take in the motorcycle pulling up in front of her vehicle, Natsuki was pushing her out of the way so that she could pull the still slightly shivering and now muddy witch into her arms.

Seeing that the witch was now in good hands, Midori smiled slightly despite the pain she felt at getting the cold shoulder from her Slayer. Deciding to give them some privacy, she stood and walked over to where Yohko was standing just outside of the beams from the headlights. She mercilessly tamped down on the pain inside at the memory of the look of disappointment and disillusioned anger that had been in familiar green eyes earlier. After all, she was somewhat angry with herself for having gotten all of them to perform such a dangerous ritual, but it was a Watcher's burden to make hard decisions like this. They had needed answers quickly, some risk was necessary. Now she just had to hope that the price for her decision was one that she could afford to pay.

When Natsuki finally pulled her bike up, she barely waited to make sure that the kickstand caught in the loose dirt of the soybean field before throwing herself off of the vehicle, her ears registering the grating of the engine still rotating slightly from her yanking the key out so abruptly. She spared no emotions over the health of her beloved machine as she jogged over to Mai, the dark red of magicks radiating from her glowing more brightly for Natsuki than the daylight bright high-beams of Midori's ATV. Kneeling down next to the witch who seemed to be only barely conscious, Natsuki ignored the presence of her Watcher and the unwarranted feelings of betrayal she felt, and instead focused on Mai's ragged and shallow breathing and the uncomfortable sensation caused by the dark magicks that were steadily flowing from the girl she cared about.

Natsuki pulled the shivering Mai into her lap, noting with worry how even though the magicks around her were warm, her witch's skin was so cold. "Mai, I'm here." She spoke softly into a pale ear, her own voice trembling. She ran a dirty hand through still dark brown hair, placing a light kiss on Mai's forehead. "You're going to be okay, I promise." Natsuki breathed a sigh of relief when she felt eyelashes fluttering open against the sensitive and still bruised skin of her neck.

"...Natsuki?"

The Slayer's heart ached at how weak her witch's voice sounded, "I'm right here." She repeated roughly, purring contentedly when she finally felt Mai's magick weakly flowing into her. She wasn't sure if it helped, but she tried to keep herself calm and relaxed as Mai recharged, letting her troubling feelings float away as she concentrated on the slight weight of Mai in her lap and the warm feeling of the magick caressing her own. After several minutes that seemed to Natsuki to stretch on for indeterminate ages, she felt Mai weakly raise her arms to wrap them around her shoulders and noted as the witch gently nuzzled her nose against her neck that her skin was much warmer than it had been minutes before. The Slayer's nose twitched slightly as she noticed something different about her witch's scent, after a moment she realized it was because she was wearing her Watcher's old jacket. She gazed thoughtfully over Mai's shoulder at Midori who was chatting quietly with Yohko, while both of them pretended not to be watching the two teenagers as closely as they were, feeling relieved when she found she was wanting to offer Midori and more importantly herself, a bit of forgiveness for what they did tonight.

"Ugh Natsuki... what day is it?" Mai spoke softly, but more coherently, though she made no effort to try and move from Natsuki's arms.

Natsuki chuckled, "It's still Saturday... or maybe very early Sunday."

"It feels like it has been years." Mai snuggled closer, "I was so lost Natsuki."

"But I found you. I promise I'll always find you." Natsuki spoke in a rough voice, a small sad smile on lips that were still smudged darker with blood. For another few minutes they just held each other, ignoring the presence of the other two women and the cold dew from the damp night air that had begun to settle on their skin and in their hair.

Suddenly the peaceful quiet of the night was abruptly shattered by the loud riff of a guitar solo from one of Japan's most hardcore metal bands screaming from inside Yohko's jacket pocket. The epically masculine musical number was cut short as the doctor answered her cellphone, "Sagisawa." She spoke shortly, in a cooly professional tone, listening intently to the person on the other end of the line. "That's fine. Don't panic. I was out in the country since I wasn't supposed to be on call tonight, but I'll be there. Yeah, it will be about twenty or thirty minutes. No problem, just try and keep her calm until I get there."

As she flipped the phone closed, despite the doctor's tense interactions with Natsuki earlier that night, the Slayer could only stare at her for a moment in wide-eyed awe. Finally she spoke, "You get reception out here?"

The doctor smirked, "What can I say, I'm an important woman. The phone uses a network of satellites for reception if it's out of range of the normal towers." She then spoke to Midori, "You need to get me to the hospital, there's a patient in the waiting room who is refusing to see any doctor but me." She rolled her eyes, "I don't know who it is, but I have a couple of older ladies who get all scandalized if only one of our male doctors is on call, like they think it would be indecent."

Midori nodded slightly turning to Mai, "Are you alright to head back on Natsuki's Kawasaki?"

The witch nodded as she hugged Natsuki tighter, "Yeah, I'll be okay. Sorry for worrying you earlier."

"I'm just glad you're feeling better. You two leave a message on my machine to let me know that you got back to the school okay." The Watcher said, looking at her Slayer with sad eyes, wondering if she'd ever be forgiven, or more importantly if her Slayer would ever trust her again after tonight. She felt a bit of her internal turmoil ease when Natsuki gave her a slight smile, though it was possible the Slayer was only smiling because her witch was still snuggling with her.

"Sure. See you later Midori." Natsuki replied, helping Mai up so that they were well out of the way of Midori's ATV so that the older woman could drive it back onto the main road. "Hey, you ready to head back home?" She asked Mai, trying not to sound like she was too eager to hurry up and get back to the dorms so they could snuggle more. But it had been such a long day.

Mai smiled to be on her feet, happy that she could finally stand on her own again, "Yeah, I feel like I could sleep for a week."

"You're sure you have enough energy to ride back?" Natsuki asked, running her fingers through once again orange hair.

"Yep. All I have to do is hug you for thirty minutes right? I can handle that."

Natsuki chuckled as they both headed over to her bike. Moments later the damaged soybean field was again filled with the loud roar of an engine as the little Kawasaki gamely churned to life. Climbing on the bike behind Natsuki, Mai grinned even when she felt cold raindrops begin to fall on the exposed skin of her face and hands. She wrapped her arms tightly around Natsuki's firm stomach, snuggling close as they sped off down the dark road into the night.


	15. Chapter 15

DISCLAIMER: Thank you as always for reading and reviewing. I read all of your reviews and think about them carefully. ~^.^~

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

The night had grown so late that it was already early morning by the time the two very weary demon fighters stumbled out of the now heavy rain and into their dorm at St. Peter's. Mai was leaning heavily against Natsuki as the dark haired girl lead them to the elevator, for once not keen on simply running up the five flights of stairs to get to their room. Natsuki sighed with relief as the door immediately dinged open as though the lift had been waiting patiently for their arrival, both of them leaning heavily against the stainless steel wall as they entered. Neither of them spoke, Mai was too tired and Natsuki wasn't too proud to admit that for all of her supernaturally enhanced endurance, she was pretty exhausted too.

She finally eased open the door to their room, waiting for Mai to head in before following after. Natsuki was ready to simply take a quick shower, change into some comfy pyjamas and then snuggle up in bed with her witch and sleep until it was time for classes on Monday. So it was with a sense of trepidation that she eyed the angrily blinking red light of the landline phone on her bedside table indicating the existence of new voice messages. She wandered over and sat down on the bed next to Mai who was eyeing her dresser like she was considering getting her things together to take a shower but just hadn't yet found the energy to put her plans into action. "I should check to see what that is." She said flatly, in a voice that clearly said she had no interest in finding out what anyone wanted to say to her at this hour.

"Maybe if you ignore it, it will go away?" Mai suggested, giving up her own notions of moving for the moment and simply resting her head on Natsuki's shoulder.

For a few minutes the Slayer just held her close, enjoying the tempting warmth of Mai's body next to hers that almost made her say to hell with the little blinky light. But... it could be something slaying related. Especially since upon patting down the pockets of her jacket she realized that she had absolutely no idea where her cellphone was. For all she knew the unfortunate electronic device could have been pulverized into tiny pieces when Miyu threw her against that wall with the force of a freight train. Or maybe when the glow transported her from outside and into the monastery the seemingly benign entity stole the thing because it was shiny. She let out a sigh as she reached out and picked up the black handset and punched the appropriate numbers so that it would take her to the voice mail box.

_Hey Natsuki? It's me. I'm here at the hospital with Yohko... and well your 'friend' from earlier is here too. We were trying to talk to her, but she says she only wants to talk to you. I know that it's really late, but I promise if you come over here and help us deal with this tonight, I won't make you go to my class on Monday so you can sleep in. I wouldn't have called you at all... but your friend seems to have a volatile temper, and well... you saw what she is capable of when she gets really angry._

Natsuki almost screamed aloud in frustration when she heard her Watcher's voice on the other end, but like a dutiful Slayer she listened to the message... and reluctantly concluded that her Watcher was right. Natsuki needed to be there. She returned the handset to its charger with perhaps a bit more force than necessary, dropping her face into her hands for a moment as she rubbed her eyes that were burning slightly she was so tired. Her body was sore all over, and her nose still felt like it wasn't quite healed yet. If at this very moment someone came to her and told her that all she had to do was kill Reito and she could sleep for three days... well the Student Council representative's family would be getting a letter of condolences from the school administrative office in the morning.

Finally she took a deep breath and called on that mysterious reserve of energy that she could always count on, even when it felt like she didn't have any energy left. She dropped her hands that were still smudged with dirt and blood from earlier to her lap, shifting her eyes to look at Mai who was studying her with a look of concern. "I have to go to the hospital to help Midori with something before I can go to bed." She complained, hoping that Mai would give her a comforting hug or some other form of affectionate pity. Instead Mai also seemed to suddenly look less tired than she had when they entered their room.

"I'm going with you. It's not safe! Did she say what she wanted? The Hellmouth is there, I can't let you go by yourself."

Natsuki smiled faintly, "You're staying right here and getting some sleep. And I promise you the Hellmouth is sitting there nice and quiet, just like it has been for the last few centuries."

"How do you know for sure?" Mai asked, clearly not trusting something so dangerous.

"Because in the background of Midori's call, there were just your typical hospital noises. If the Hellmouth was doing anything like opening or something, the noises in the background would've been more along the lines of people screaming 'Oh God Oh God! We're all going to die!'" Natsuki teased as she reached out and lightly tweaked Mai's nose, giggling when the girl scowled at her and swiped her hand away.

"Ugh. Fine. I'm too tired to argue with you I guess. But you promise you'll call me if it turns out to be anything really serious?" The witch pleaded, unwilling to be totally sidelined if there was any chance that Natsuki would need her help. Especially since even through the haze of dark magick twisted memories, she was fairly certain she remembered Natsuki almost getting killed at the monastery earlier.

"I promise. Now get some sleep, and I'll try and be home before too much longer." Natsuki smiled, giving Mai a hug before getting to her feet and reluctantly trudging back out the door, away from Mai's comforting warmth and into the cold night-time rain.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

It was a rain soaked and generally bedraggled Natsuki who finally walked through the automatic doors of the hospital ER's waiting room. Out of habit her eyes were instantly drawn to the tall form of her Watcher leaning against the far wall. She was alone and it seemed that she hadn't noticed Natsuki's entrance. The redhead was contemplating her boots, her arms crossed around her stomach in an uncharacteristically defensive posture with an expression of world weary sadness on her face that combined to make the woman look almost her age. Natsuki felt a twinge of guilt for her own role in Midori's sadness, and knew that she was the only person with the ability to alleviate it. When she walked over to stand near her Watcher, Natsuki was surprised when she still didn't look up and she wondered if Midori had gone to wherever she went when she was reading or something.

"Hey... I'm here." She spoke softly, not wanting to startle the weary redhead. When Midori finally looked up at her there was an open and vulnerable look in her hazel eyes, the sense of authority that Natsuki always associated with her just wasn't there, only an apology and a plea for forgiveness. Natsuki knew that only honesty would work, her Watcher knew her much too well for her to play things off like everything was just fine... and besides when it came to stuff like this Natsuki was a terrible liar. "Midori... I was mad at you. I was mad at myself too though. And I still am. Even though I know that we didn't really have any other options..." Natsuki sighed, "But Midori, just because I might be mad at you a little... No matter what happens, you're still my Watcher. And I meant what I said earlier too even though there couldn't have been a worse way for me to tell you, so I'll just say it here too." She blushed awkwardly, hating to get into sentimental stuff like this too much... but Midori needed to hear this right now and Natsuki wasn't too afraid to face anything for someone she cared about. She would even confront the terrible spectre of embarrassment, "You're my family. You're the only person in the world who I could say that about. My being a little upset with you or even a lot angry with you won't change that, alright?"

For a moment Natsuki feared that the normally emotionally reserved woman was going to actually start crying here in the ER waiting room, that even so late at night was crowded with strangers. But instead she just spoke roughly, her eyes finally looking a bit less devastated even if they were misty, "Thank you Natsuki. I am sorry it had to be like that, please believe me. I didn't want her to have to get hurt."

The Slayer nodded, looking at Midori compassionately, "I do believe you." She shrugged helplessly, "Actually once I finally get to sleep I probably won't even be mad anymore when I wake up. Don't worry about it Midori, we're fine."

Midori took a deep breath and shook her head slightly, "Ugh, I think I need more caffeine. Anyway, after I called you Yohko told me that she could get Miyu to at least act civil and wait for you. She is in the room with the patient." Midori gazed off with a faraway look, "It surprised me, but I went to go get some coffee for me and Yohko and when I came back Miyu was just sitting in the room quietly instead of causing a huge disruption like she had been. Yohko told me that it was no big deal, she merely has lots of experience dealing with rude patients and their families."

Natsuki nodded knowingly, "Your woman is not someone that anyone would want to make angry."

Midori glanced at Natsuki in surprise, even as she wondered how her Slayer would know anything about her lover's temper, "I've not really found her to have an unreasonably bad temper..."

Natsuki just snorted rudely, "Yeah that might be true if you're an adventurous archaeologist named Midori I guess."

The Watcher shrugged, figuring that she would be able to solve this mystery when she was less exhausted. "Come on." She said as she started walking down the hallway towards the room that she remembered the patient being in, only to run into Yohko walking out of the now empty room. "Did she leave?" Midori asked her voice pitched slightly higher with incredulity.

Yohko shook her head as she double checked something that she was writing on her clipboard, "No. But her condition was stable so I had her moved to the long-term care ward to clear up this ER room. It's a weekend night, so it's a zoo here as always." The doctor gave Natsuki a simple cursory glance before turning back to her charts, as though the Slayer wasn't worth any more of her attention than that fraction of a second required for positive identification. "Ah, she showed up. I'll take you to Alyssa's room. The sooner we can get this over with, the sooner I can get some sleep. Just once I'd like to have a day off where I didn't end up at work."

"Wait, Alyssa? I thought Miyu was the one causing the trouble?" Natsuki questioned, confused. She hadn't thought that Alyssa would ever be checked into a public hospital like this either. She didn't know too much about the situation, but she knew enough to have assumed that whoever was controlling Alyssa had their own medical facilities, and the last thing they would want was an outside physician taking a look at the girl.

"Do I look like a computer technician to you?" Yohko snarked, her personality even more abrasive than it usually was due to lack of sleep. Natsuki just shrugged, after all the doctor wasn't wrong. She could immediately tell when they had left the ER even without glancing at the small sign on the white wall, as the general noise level was much quieter, and the nurses here strolled at an almost leisurely pace as they pushed carts with food trays and medicines from room to room instead of always hurrying. They turned down a side hallway and walked a short distance before Yohko stopped at a door on the left, knocking softly but not waiting for an answer before turning the handle and leading Natsuki inside.

"Here she is, as per your request. Now, I know you won't do anything destructive to my hospital if Midori and I go home and get some sleep correct? Remember what I promised you if I find anything amiss when I return to work." The android simply nodded stiffly to the doctor, who gave her a smile that could hardly be described as friendly. Midori was out in the hall so she didn't see it, but Natsuki flinched as she recognized it from earlier. She could only describe the doctor's expression as predatory. "Excellent. I'll be by later in the morning to check on her, even though I assure you that the doctors on staff here in the long-term care ward are just as competent as I am." She turned to Natsuki, "Call us if you have any problems."

Natsuki just nodded swallowing hard, understanding that even if the doctor was saying 'call us' what she really meant was, 'if you are incompetent enough to have problems and need to call me tonight, I promise to put you through unnecessary suffering the next time you require medical treatment'. Seeing that they had an understanding Yohko gave her a return nod before forcefully shoving the clip chart she had been carrying into the holder next to the door and walking back out into the hall, grabbing Midori's hand and sweetly asking the redhead to take her home. Natsuki whistled softly as she watched them go momentarily forgetting her audience, "Geez, I sure hope my guardian knows what she's gotten herself into."

She was surprised when Miyu responded in her standard flat tones, "The doctor is not one to be trifled with."

Natsuki turned to the android and raised a questioning eyebrow at her, "What could she possibly threaten you with?"

Miyu actually seemed to flinch slightly as she responded, "She promised that she would figure out when and where I powered down to organize my memory banks so that she could replace my interfacing software with Windows ME."

"Oh wow." Natsuki's eyes widened.

"She is unexpectedly Machiavellian for a physician. I respect her efficiency." Miyu cocked her head to the side as she studied Natsuki, "The angle of your nose has been corrected."

The Slayer rubbed her still slightly sore bit of cartilage reflexively at Miyu's mention of it. "Yeah... Yohko fixed it for me before we left the monastery."

"I was under the impression that humans could not undergo field maintenance like that due to the inability to turn off their pain sensors?"

"...You're not wrong." Natsuki walked hesitantly over to the bed with the small sleeping figure in it, asking for Miyu's permission first as she didn't want to upset the android who was sitting stiffly in an uncomfortable hospital chair next to Alyssa's bed looking very protective. Unlike Mai, Alyssa was still suffering from the physically altering effects of black magick. In fact, if Natsuki hadn't already known it was her, she would not have recognized the girl. Her normally golden hair was now a pure black similar to Natsuki's own in that it caught the fluorescent lights of the room in such a way that it appeared to have dark blue highlights. Her skin was also much paler than Natsuki remembered it being, and her veins stood out vividly under the pale skin, all appearing much darker in colour than veins should. "Is she going to be okay?" Natsuki finally asked when her study of the girl in question and all of the many life support machines she was hooked up to yielded no answers.

"Sagisawa-sensei was unable to make any predictions about Ojou-sama's chances of recovery. She was able to reassure me that her condition is at least stable, so while she is not recovering, she is also in no apparent danger of dying."

"Why can't she figure out if Alyssa will get better? She's pretty good at what she does..."

"Sagisawa-sensei was unable to determine a medical reason for Ojou-sama to be in a coma at all. Therefore she has no data with which to predict the statistical likelihood of a recovery since she does not know the exact agent or stimulus causing Ojou-sama's condition."

Natsuki was finally able to tear her eyes away from the sleeping girl, who suddenly looked familiar to her in a way that she hadn't before, to study Miyu. "I'll admit I'm more than a little surprised that you brought her here. I would have assumed that whoever you two are working for would have their own medical facilities, and that the last thing any of them would want would be an outside physician getting a good look at her."

Miyu did not turn to look Natsuki in the eye when she replied, and instead simply continued her study of her Alyssa. "I suspect I am only here because of an oversight on the part of my programmers. I am programmed to be able to take direct orders from Ojou-sama, even if they contradict my base programming. She requested that I take her out of the church when I returned from my... meeting with you earlier. I acted as she requested. The plan was to attempt to travel out of the country, but then she fell into this sleep that I could not wake her from. Instead of returning to the medical facility she would normally use, I brought her here when my hacking of the patient logs showed that this was a medical facility frequented by the Champion."

Natsuki giggled inappropriately, "Is that why on her patient file she's listed as 'Kinko'?"

"How is that funny? I thought it was appropriately descriptive." The android stated flatly.

"Well... If you've ever watched American television... which I guess you haven't... calling someone her age a 'golden girl' is sortof amusing."

"Ojou-sama suggested that I should view more pop culture media to improve my humanity, but I did not see the relevance of such an endeavour. Perhaps I will investigate this during the time that I will be spending without her company in the coming days." Miyu replied, her voice almost wistful.

"Well... her condition may not be medical, but I'm almost certain it must be related to her excessive use of magicks. She probably told you already, but I know that Midori won't give up searching until she has found a way for us to fix this." Natsuki reassured the despondent robot, even though privately she was somewhat relieved of this outcome and had no wish for Midori to hurry. After all, Alyssa was alive but also unable to continue to cause problems for Natsuki by trying to get the ancient glow into the wrong hands. If she stayed in a coma long enough, perhaps this whole crisis would just blow over. At Miyu's softly spoken thanks, Natsuki hesitated for a moment before asking her next question before just deciding it couldn't hurt to at least ask, "...Can you tell me who you work for? That might help us with our search."

Miyu shook her head, "My programming does not allow me to divulge the name of the company that we work for. I can tell the Champion that we are searching for this object, which you refer to as 'the glow' but our client refers to as 'the key', because we have been contracted out by an elderly California man who refers to himself only as 'Doc'." Miyu paused, tilting her head in the way that she did when she was thinking about something more carefully, "I have never spoken to this 'Doc' personally, but all of my files that have transcripts of correspondences with him indicate that he is a most peculiar man."

Natsuki nodded, her eyebrows furrowing together as her mind posed a question that she couldn't puzzle out on her own, "What I don't understand though, is how the people you work for managed to find such a powerful magicks user as Alyssa. From what I've seen of your capabilities I would have assumed that they were a technologies company."

Miyu didn't respond for a few minutes, instead she just sat quietly in her chair next to Alyssa's bed running her fingers through the girl's long inky dark hair. Finally when Natsuki was beginning to think that this was another question that Miyu's programming did not give her permission to answer the android spoke. Her words were slow and halting; Natsuki suspected it was because she was only relaying this information after finding some sort of loophole in her programming, making Natsuki again wonder just how much free will the machine had. "They did not 'find' my Ojou-sama. They made her, almost in the same way that they made me. They purchased a set of procedures that another company had, which used these 'magicks' to create a human that was supernaturally strong. They paid that company to alter them so that the procedures would instead create a human with increased magickal control."

Natsuki blinked in surprise at that response, turning from Miyu to study Alyssa more closely. Something about her story was beginning to resonate very strongly with the Slayer, it sounded so similar to her own in so many ways. But this girl didn't have a Midori in her life to save her. She glanced up at Miyu... still the closest thing she had did seem to be trying its best for her.

"Why?" Miyu asked suddenly.

"Um... why what?"

"Why are you helping my Ojou-sama?" Miyu clarified.

Natsuki looked Miyu in the eye, her lips quirking in a wry smile, "Well, you were holding a rocket launcher to my head, I wasn't really in a position to tell you no."

The robot did not share in the Slayer's humour, shaking her head stiffly, "I was monitoring the Champion with my sensors while you made the decision. It was not made because you were frightened." The android's voice was puzzled as she relayed this information, as though she too would have assumed that such a decision would be made only out of fear but the data unexpectedly didn't support her hypothesis.

"Maybe. I was pretty afraid you were going to blow my head off though, I won't lie about that." Natsuki shrugged, "I guess it's just like I told you Friday afternoon, she's human. I care about her safety. I can't just allow an essentially innocent human child like her to die when she's only acting this way because she's being forced to. Besides, she's a good kid and she turns you into a completely different person when you're around her."

Miyu cocked her head to the side, her voice having a bit of a confused quality as she stated what Natsuki assumed she thought was the obvious, "I am not human."

Natsuki gave the robot a slight smile, realizing that she was less discomfited by her now that she knew why the other girl's eyes were different, "Maybe not. But I think Alyssa makes you human in all the ways that really matter."

Miyu looked away from the Slayer as though the words that were just spoken made her a bit uncomfortable, "So the Champion's programming forces her to consider the safety of every human when making decisions?"

"The innocent ones anyway."

"...I think that the Champion's programming must be even more difficult to exist with than my own." The android replied slowly.

"I suppose you could look at it that way... But I wouldn't trade places with anyone for anything. You were made to protect Alyssa, but I was made to be a S... a Champion. I know that this is what I was born to do, to protect normal humans from the things that they aren't strong enough to fight. I wouldn't know what I was if I wasn't this." Natsuki's tone of voice was a strange combination of proud and a confession.

Miyu met the Slayer's eyes, her own almost showing something close to the human emotion of compassion or empathy, "I understand. I couldn't imagine a reason for my existence other than my function of protecting my Ojou-sama."

"Was there anything else you wanted me here for?" Natsuki asked around a yawn, the activity of the day finally beginning to wear down even her endurance.

"Just one thing. I stopped here instead of continuing out of the country. I cannot go any further without my Ojou-sama, but since I remained in this geographical location, my programming will force me to return to the company headquarters. I... am not certain what they will do to me there, but I must return. There may be some way for me to help her from there." Miyu explained, her voice flat and betraying no particular fear or worry for her own safety. "I am entrusting you with her safety Champion, as I do not know if I will be able to fulfil that role once I am forced to leave here."

"Miyu... is there anything I can do to help you?" Natsuki asked, not wanting to see these two beings who clearly cared for each other so deeply separated.

"No." Miyu looked into Natsuki's green eyes, speaking in dangerous tones, "The Champion remembers what will happen to her if Ojou-sama comes to harm?"

Natsuki nodded, rubbing her neck reflexively as she remembered the feeling of the burning hot gun barrel on her flesh, "I'll look after her for you as best I can. Understand though, I have school and my other duties as a Champion that I have to perform as well. Just because you are intrusting her to me doesn't mean that I can drop everything else, even if you threaten my life."

"I understand. The Champion is still the only person I would trust my Ojou-sama to." The android stated firmly.

Natsuki felt a surge of pride that this powerful being would be willing to put the safety of the only thing in the universe that mattered to her in the Slayer's hands. Suddenly the Slayer realized that if Miyu was willing to trust her with Alyssa's safety, perhaps the android would be willing to trust her with something else that the android seemed to value less. Something that if the Slayer could grant it to her, would allow the android to better protect the only thing she loved. "Miyu... I know this might sound like a very demanding request... But I know this person who is something of a genius at programming. If you could give me a copy of your base programming, not your personality or anything but the part that has all of the protocols and such that you need to follow, it might be possible for her to take out the parts that require you to listen to anyone who isn't Alyssa."

For long moments the android was silent as she studied the Slayer, her expression unreadable as she apparently processed the request. Finally she spoke, "The Champion's request makes me feel... discomfort to contemplate. I would be giving you the means to destroy me." The android let out what Natsuki presumed to be an unnecessary sigh as she turned to study Alyssa again, "But the necessity of entrusting the Champion with Ojou-sama's safety means that I have already given the Champion that ability. ...I suppose that no matter this discomfort..." She paused, cocking her head to the side as she processed silently for a moment. Natsuki found herself wondering if perhaps the behaviour was the android literally looking at the situation at a different angle. "Is this feeling fear?" Miyu spoke again, her voice tinged with a strange combination of awe and disappointment, "I have never felt it on its own before. It is most unpleasant." Her tone changed back to a more confident one, "Still, it is irrelevant. The Champion's logic is correct, I could protect Ojou-sama better if hers were the only orders that I needed to follow. Tonight's scenario is conclusive proof."

With that, Miyu reached up behind her neck with both hands, and Natsuki winced as she again heard muscle and tissue being sliced into. After a few moments during which Miyu looked every bit the mechanical automaton, body completely still and even her empty eyes staring unblinkingly at an unchanging point in space, the android seemed to startle as she returned to awareness. "Hold out your hand." She commanded as she removed her hands, shifting the fingers from the right one back into the human configuration, and gently gripping a small object in her left. Natsuki obeyed and soon found herself holding a slightly bloody electronic device, she wondered how the blood didn't destroy the device's functionality. "It has a USB-port for transferring the data to a standard personal computing device."

"Thank you Miyu. I promise that I will find help for you." Natsuki spoke earnestly, waiting for Miyu's nod of acknowledgement before continuing, "If that's all, I'm going to head home if that's alright? I figure you'd probably want some time alone with Alyssa before you have to leave anyway."

Miyu nodded, a surprised expression on her face, "You are correct. I find that there are... things that I wish to tell my Ojou-sama before I leave. Even though I know logically that she will not hear what I have to say since she is asleep."

"Well, you know that Alyssa is really good with magicks. You should say whatever it is anyway, she might be able to hear you after all." Natsuki said with a smile, noting the slight blush on the android's cheeks before she headed out the door. As she was walking down the long white corridor she wondered vaguely why a robot would blush at all? _Ugh. I'm so tired. At this rate if I sleep as long as I want to when I get home, Alyssa is going to wake up before I do._


	16. Chapter 16

DISCLAIMER: None of this is mine. Thanks as always for reading and commenting.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

"_Everything is vague to a degree you do not realize till you have tried to make it precise."_

St. Peter's High School; Wednesday April 25, 2000

Natsuki growled softly to herself, consciously putting her mechanical pencil down next to the homework she was attempting to complete so that she wouldn't accidentally destroy the thing in her frustration. For the life of her she didn't understand how she could be perfectly fluent in English but yet still find this apparently fairly basic grammar exercise about where commas go so confusing... to the point that merely thinking about it so much seemed to be reducing her comprehension of any language. She couldn't help being a bit annoyed with Midori for signing her up for third year English language class because of the extra work; even though it meant that if she could pass it just this once she wouldn't have to take the subject ever again. For a moment she wished that they could just read books in the class or something... and then she remembered how much she hated her Japanese Literature class. _I guess an English literature class probably wouldn't involve reading Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter or American comics._

Still, even if she had been spending every afternoon so far this week desperately trying to catch up on her homework and reading in her classes, on the slaying front anyway things had been wonderfully quiet since Miyu had brought the unconscious Alyssa to Yohko's hospital very early Sunday morning. The past few days she had been waking up before the sun to go to the hospital and check on the girl as well as visiting her once in the evening. Natsuki had also been able to get the data that Miyu gave her to RedWiccan on Monday afternoon. The college girl had warned Natsuki it might take a while for her to get around to editing it even as she expressed a great deal of excitement at being able to look into such an advanced bit of coding. But although she was making progress finding a way to help the android, she hadn't heard anything from Miyu since that night at the hospital. She was absent from classes and a few visits to the church had turned up nothing. Natsuki hoped that she could find out what happened to Miyu before Alyssa woke up because she knew that if the girl were anything like herself, Alyssa would be devastated to learn that someone she loved might have been injured or worse protecting her.

The last few nights she hadn't even done patrol, since Midori told her on Sunday when they talked on the phone that Natsuki should be using this seeming lull to rest up a bit. Instead she was spending most of her time after she got back from checking up on Alyssa in the evenings getting to know Mai better. She couldn't believe the number of part-time jobs that Mai had already held at her age. Even before she was at the legal age to get paid, when she was much younger during the summers she had an unpaid job on weekends helping out in a snorkel rental place at the beach near her house so she could rent the equipment for free. Natsuki, who was a fan of most any adventurous activity, had brought up how she'd always wanted to learn scuba. When Mai had expressed a shared interested in the hobby, they had agreed to try and get their basic certification together during the summer holiday this year. Natsuki let out a contented sigh as she thought about the snuggling she was sure to get when Mai finally got home from work this afternoon. With renewed morale she picked up her mechanical pencil, determined not to have any homework remaining to interrupt her relaxation.

The Slayer was really enjoying having a bit of downtime in her life and she was pleasantly surprised to find that the more she learned about Mai, the more she realized just how much they had in common when originally she wouldn't have thought there would be much of anything. Even as she was becoming more and more enamoured with her witch, at odd times she would find herself wondering what Shizuru was up to, or thinking how she wished that Shizuru could be there to share an old inside joke that she knew only her oldest friend would really understand. But Natsuki had promised to honour Shizuru's request for space, so instead of crowding the older girl she was trying her best to simply wait patiently for their weekly date to spend time together.

Natsuki was particularly looking forward to seeing Shizuru again this Friday. This week they were going to a planetarium in the city that Shizuru's dad always used to take them to visit when they were younger. In fact Shizuru had even called her father to see if he could go too, but he was going to be out of town on business. She told him that it was fine and promised to bring him a silly piece of omiyage, but she had told Natsuki on Tuesday morning when they were finalizing their plans that she was a little disappointed because she missed spending time with her father. Natsuki had almost immediately told Midori when she got to class, and asked her to talk to Hirotaka about visiting Shizuru soon. As far as she knew nothing had come of that just yet, but she was confident that Midori would come through for her.

Despite the fact that both Shizuru and Natsuki had always enjoyed trips to the planetarium, each trip was almost always the same. But no matter how many times she heard them, Natsuki still enjoyed listening to Shizuru tell her a bit of mythology about some constellation or planet in the night sky. Natsuki herself could only seem to remember the scientific things, but her natural tendency to show off around Shizuru inevitably resulted in her blurting out any piece of random information floating around her head whenever the two of them were together in an even remotely sciencey setting. At the planetarium as one would expect it was always astronomy related. For example, isn't it interesting how Venus rotates backwards compared to the other planets? Or did you know that Jupiter has four moons that could be planets if they were orbiting the sun by themselves because one of them is bigger than Mercury? Oh and by the way, Jupiter is so big that if it was just a few or sixty times bigger it would be a type of star instead of a planet. Her favourite was how if you fell into a black hole the part of you closer to it would fall in faster such that you would turn all stringy like a noodle… Natsuki assumed that Shizuru knew all of this crap too since it was common knowledge, but she still appreciated that the older girl at least pretended to be interested when Natsuki offered them or other trivial knowledge as bits of conversation whenever they went to a science museum or watched the night sky together. Part of her suspected that on some level Shizuru didn't even care what Natsuki was talking about, that her friend just got some enjoyment out of seeing the normally tough and dangerous Slayer geek out.

Suddenly the Slayer's pleasant contemplation of her weekend plans was interrupted by the faint sensation of the grating pain caused by the ancient glow's magick, _the key,_ and an overpowering fatigue. Her fist tightened reflexively, shattering the flimsy blue plastic of her pencil, small bits flying across the room. Aside from the magickal pain, it felt similar to the few times when Duran forced her into a dream state to relay some information to her, and she wondered if somehow the two supernatural beings were working together. Natsuki fought the fatigue, because she knew that if they were attempting to force her into some sort of vision, something might have happened with Alyssa. Using all of her remaining willpower, Natsuki reached out and grabbed her new cellphone from the bedside table. The weight of her own arm felt inordinately heavy even with her supernatural strength but she forced the muscles to keep moving, her fingers rapidly tapping away at the tiny plastic keys. Right as she was losing consciousness she hit the send button to relay a short text message to the first person on her contacts list: _call yohko. ask about alyssa._

Her last thought as her eyes slammed shut was that she hoped Mai wouldn't worry about her when she got home from work. She had a suspicion that the sleep she was falling into was one that the witch would be unable to wake her from.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

The instant her eyes shut as she lost consciousness they immediately opened again. It felt for a moment more like she had just blinked, and now instead of being completely exhausted she was wide awake. Her awareness heightened at the distinct stomach in her throat sensation of falling. Even though she remembered vividly that she had just fallen asleep, Natsuki still frantically flailed around for something, anything to grab onto to stop her descent. A sudden near sunlight bright flash out of the corner of her vision was painful in the otherwise dim environment, and time seemed to dilate as she realized that she was falling out of the sky. There would be nothing to break her fall but the ground.

Despite her desperate situation, Natsuki couldn't help but be fascinated by the strange world she was plummeting towards at ever increasing speed. The whole of it, sky and ground alike was painted in varying shades of dark grey, such that the horizon separating ground from sky was only intermittently distinguishable as huge forks of lightning burned out of the thick clouds to briefly touch it. The constant rolling thunder from the storm made separating the sound of a particular bolt of lightning from the surrounding cacophony nearly impossible. Each fleeting view of the rapidly rotating horizon gave Natsuki the impression of incredibly steep and jagged mountain peaks, some of which seemed to contain impossible angles, and several as the light faded had the appearance of moving on their own. In one particularly blinding flashing of hard white electricity, Natsuki thought she saw the glinting of an unimaginably large maw of teeth opening and closing and the writhing of huge dark tentacles.

Pain. The most intense pain she had ever experienced exploded all over her body as she hit the ground, bouncing off of the hard rocky surface and rolling several meters, her body slamming into several small upraised ledges in the rock before coming to a halting stop on her back. She stared blankly up at the angrily flashing sky as clumps of thick black ash from the rainless storm began to settle on her unmoving body, her lungs that had somehow not been crushed on impact ached and burned with bruising from her fall and the hot bone dry air she was feeding them with each tortured and shallow breath. As her vision darkened she couldn't decide if she was losing consciousness, dying or waking up...

...She opened her eyes again. Natsuki blinked, reaching up to try and rub sandpaper like ash from eyes that felt uncomfortably dry. The worst of her pain was gone, but she noted with apprehension she hadn't awoken from her nightmare because she obviously wasn't in her dorm room. At least she wasn't outside under the painful scouring ash storm of an alien world, but in a small slate rock cave carved out of the mountain by ages of harsh winds thick with dust and ash. Despite the fact that the air seemed almost painfully dry to Natsuki, each breath grating on the raw tissue of her throat and lungs, the walls were covered in giant mushrooms many of which were splotched with faint red and purple darkly glowing patches of fluid. In the dim lighting Natsuki could just barely make out a hunched over small humanoid form, poking at the embers of a pile of feebly burning rock with the end of a huge charred and sharpened bone. Although the figure was hunched over, the Slayer didn't get the impression of frailty. Rather the almost unhealthily lean creature's muscles seemed coiled and tense, perfectly capable of unexpectedly springing into strong and quick movements, even if it only occasionally stood upright. The creature suddenly paused in its tending of the fire, and slowly turned to face Natsuki, as though it had sensed her stare.

Dark amber eyes shone, reflecting the faint light of the dying fire brightly like a cat's as they lazily appraised the Slayer. "So, Duran's Champion awakens." The figure spoke in a child's voice that was nonetheless authoritative and intimidating, even to a seasoned warrior like Natsuki. "I feared you would not wake in time for the fight."

"...Who are you?" Natsuki spoke painfully, her voice harsh and cracking as her scraped and torn vocal cords attempted to form the sound.

The small human, who Natsuki had the vague impression was female even though she showed no signs of womanly development, let out a disapproving grunt. "No time for questions now. Arm yourself Champion. Our enemy comes. Now we must fight. Questions later." She spoke shortly, the thick dreadlocked braids on either side of her head moving in time with the firm nod she gave to emphasise her point. She used her sharpened bone to gesture toward a place in the rocky cave wall with a large trough carved into it. "The sword is mine." She added shortly as Natsuki approached the makeshift weapons chest to take her pick. The Slayer could see why the strange creature had felt the need to point this out, as the dark black and red metal two-handed sword was indeed a beautiful weapon.

"It's a good sword." Natsuki complimented.

"Mhmm. It is my friend here." the being replied with a hint of wistfulness. Shaking her head she loped over to reverently pull the huge weapon, its massive blade longer than she was tall, from the rock. "Choose."

The Slayer inexplicably felt her eyes drawn to a wide crossbow that could have been crafted for a small giant. In an eerie coincidence, the weapon itself seemed to be a companion weapon to her giant stone battleaxe that was still at home in the training room. The heavy black weapon, lined with midnight blue runes, seemed to quietly call her name. The crossbow was hardly her best weapon, but she found herself suddenly curious what the drawstrength of such a weapon could be. She reached out and lifted it from the chest, her eyes widening when the weapon itself seemed to weigh almost nothing, even though from the warm smooth feeling of the stone she was almost certain it was made from the same material as her incredibly heavy battleaxe. The weapon was primitive in make; it didn't have any automatic drawing mechanism that she could see like most of the crossbows in her weapons collection, and she wondered how one could possibly reload the thing quickly in combat. Drawing back the string experimentally, she was already amazed at the sight of solid stone bending back without the string snapping outright, but her eyes widened further as the weapon answered the question of reloading for her when a wickedly barbed shining silver bolt appeared in the small indent in the tiller as soon as the string was fully cocked.

Suddenly almost unable to contain her excitement over a weapon that she had never truly fallen in love with like she had most melee weapons, the Slayer levelled the weapon at one of the numerous glowing mushrooms on the far wall. Using her left arm as extra support under the weapon she casually fingered the trigger, pulling out the give in the mechanism until she was left with just the small distance needed to fire the huge bolt. Grinning wickedly she pulled the trigger the rest of the way, delighted at the near effortlessness of the action, even though the weapon must have contained an unbelievable amount of pent up kinetic energy. Nearly instantaneously the huge mushroom exploded in a shower of glowing fluid and dry flesh and there was a loud thundering crack. Natsuki blinked when she saw that the metal bolt had imbedded itself in the stone cave wall, the square meter of stone around it now covered in a thick layer of what seemed to be water ice. "Holy shit!" She exclaimed involuntarily, raising her left hand to her throat at the sharp pain caused by her loud outburst.

The skinny female again grunted in approval at Natsuki's choice, the tight sinewy muscles in her arms and legs standing out as she gave an experimental swing of her sword, the worn greyish-brown leather of her simple knee-length tunic fluttering slightly. "That is a good weapon for Duran's Champion."

Natsuki simply nodded in agreement, her own throat much too sore to speak again. Glancing down she was somewhat surprised to see that she was still wearing her school uniform and barefoot, although the uniform was horribly filthy and torn in several places. Still with this being a dream she had half expected to find herself naked. Wistfully she thought about how much easier this fight would be if she was wearing her slaying outfit. Almost before the thought was fully formed, the weapon in her hand emitted a dark blue light and her skin briefly burned hot, tingling with magicks. When the glow faded her clothes had been transformed. Neck to toe she was now covered in thick heavy black leather; fingerless gloves, thick soled boots and an armour-plated bodysuit that was nearly skin-tight but still loose enough to allow for a full range of motion. A black cloth covered her nose and mouth, clearly intended to offer her already damaged airway some protection from the harsh climate outside. "...How?" She forced out.

"That one belongs to Duran's Champion. It knows what she needs." The feral girl explained absently, her shining amber eyes now fixed on the small mouth of the cave and the thick ash storm still raging outside. The girl suddenly ceased all movement, sniffing the air carefully. A low animalistic growl erupted from her throat, "They approach Champion. Come. They must not reach the key here." She ordered authoritatively, straightening to her full and altogether unimpressive height as she strode confidently from the meagre shelter, clearly expecting Natsuki to follow.

The Slayer cautiously but quickly followed behind, taking shallow breaths at first as she stepped back out into the ash storm until she noted approvingly that the new protection indeed made breathing here much less painful. As soon as she was completely outside of the cave mouth, rock from the mountain itself closed in around it, leaving only a very peculiar pattern on the rock to mark the location where it had been. The mark stood out a bright torrid red in the midst of the colourless landscape, and was inexplicably similar to the astrological symbol for the planet Mars.

Natsuki ceased her contemplations of the magickal nature of her mysterious ally's home as her attention was seized by a discomforting throbbing of sound so low pitched and loud that she could feel it bombarding her body like rough waves at the beach. She scanned the ground down the steep mountain, straining her eyes to try and pick out movement through the thick ash during intermittent flashes of lightning. Then her senses narrowed in on the direction of the sound and sensation, a loud and steady beat through the air, a rhythmic increase of air pressure on the exposed skin around her eyes. Gazing up hesitantly she blanched at the sight that greeted her. Hovering in the sky above them was a pale silver, nearly white monstrosity, whose true size was impossible to judge at this distance but it seemed easily larger than the whales Natsuki had once seen breaching far out beyond the breakers at the beach. The demon most closely resembled a giant manta ray. Wide fleshy fin-like wings that spanned the entire length of its body fanned lazily at the hot air, nearly effortlessly keeping the massive creature aloft. However instead of small black eyes, over top of its mouth flaps were slightly protruding large front facing golden irises, which narrowed intelligently as they took in the two warriors standing on the side of the flat mountain ledge. Nor was its wide maw toothlessly gaped open in hopes of scooping up microscopic creatures, but instead it was lined as far back as she could see with slowly undulating tubes, each with several vertical rows of bioluminescent green point lights. Even as she wondered what the tubes did, they began to glow whiter and brighter before lobbing a series of projectiles at the two warriors. Natsuki's eyes widened and she threw herself to the ground, rolling out of their path as quickly as possible, ignoring the throbbing pain in her heavily bruised body. She glanced back at her ally who was still staring down their enemy, brandishing her sword threateningly and completely without fear as the orbs hurdled towards her. The small girl then seemed to vanish, reappearing a few feet away just as the glowing orbs impacted the smooth slate of the mountain, their strong acid burning into the stone, hissing sharply and raising up small clouds of steam.

It was easily the most fearsome demon that Natsuki had ever laid eyes on, but still she smirked at the sight of it. After all, in her hands she held what must surely be the most powerful crossbow ever crafted. A few strategically placed bolts in that wide soft underbelly and the great white sky whale would be plummeting to its death on the jagged rocky cliffs below them. In rapid succession she fired a rally of wicked metallic bolts at the creature, she aimed carefully worried that the strong winds could blow her bolts off course, but thanks to the creature's large size all of her shots easily hit their marks. Wide dark rifts were opened in the demon's wings on either side of its body, spilling out great splashing torrents of the burning acid down the mountain, hissing clouds of superheated water vapour and hydrogen gas rising from the large puddles. Natsuki grinned as the beast let out an angered subsonic roar and began rapidly losing altitude. But then just as it was about to impact on the wide lip of the ledge around the cave, the demon's body began to morph and split, and within seconds it was two twenty foot tall demons nearly as wide as they were tall. The forms of the twin flesh demons was vaguely humanoid; massive flesh golems, their faces covered with the undulating acid tubes and each with a single large golden eye, thick legs bending slightly to absorb the great shock of their impact with the stone, the surface of which cracked under them.

Natsuki felt her heart beating faster, wondering again why she had chosen a crossbow for her weapon. After all, it wasn't a weapon that was particularly good in a melee fight, and she couldn't see any reason for the two demons to just stay where they were and allow her to shoot them from a distance. Nevertheless she reloaded, levelling her weapon's aim at the great amber eye of one of the demons she pulled the trigger, willing her bolt to fly faster.

The strange girl warrior needed no moment to think over their changed situation, without hesitation she charged fearlessly towards the demons, moving so quickly that she reached them at the same time as Natsuki's bolt. She delivered a powerful uppercut to one demon's belly at the same time as Natsuki's bolt pierced deeply into its eye. Its belly and skull both spilled their burning acid contents onto the ground, the girl's bare arms unaffected as they were splashed with the substance even as the rocks sizzled around her. The blade of the great red and black sword hissed and burned red hot, but the girl did not for a moment loosen her grip on the hilt as she brought it up to block the downward strike of the second demon's impossibly large fists, whirling around just in time as the bulky demon attempted to flank her. Natsuki watched in awe of the tiny warrior's strength as her strong block was enough to send the massive demon stumbling back a few steps toward the steep face of the mountain behind them. Glancing up the mountain where the two fighters were approaching, Natsuki grinned wickedly as she noticed an enormous overhanging bolder that seemed only held up by a few smaller rocks wedged precariously under it.

"Hey! Move!" She yelled, her throat tearing painfully and her voice coming out sounding much to quiet for her ally to possibly hear over the sound of the storm and the fight. But then the girl turned to face Natsuki for a moment even as she continued fighting, as though the enormous demon wasn't an opponent that required all of her concentration. The girl nodded firmly, her amber eyes shining of and on in the flashing lightning and steam from the burning rocks rising around her and the demon.

For the moment Natsuki set aside her wonder at how acute the apparently human creature's hearing must be as she positioned her shot. Green eyes narrowed as she focused in on her target, aiming a little high to allow for the loss of vertical acceleration the bolt would experience attempting to reach such a great height. The bolt hit, so high up the mountain that the sound of the small breaking rocks was nearly consumed by the roar of the wind, the enormous bolder jolting forward before losing all contact with the mountain and plummeting at a freefall toward the fighters below. The Slayer's heart was in her throat when for endless moments it seemed like the girl wasn't going to move out of the way in time, but then at the last instant she threw herself into a reckless combat roll just as the chunk of mountain came crashing down to crush the demon, the force of its impact flattening the demon and splitting the rock itself in two.

The Slayer grinned as she witnessed their vanquished enemy and started to run over to congratulate the girl who had fought with such amazing strength and skill. But when she took her first step she stumbled, falling to her knees as she was suddenly overcome by an inexplicable weakness. The girl was instantly at her side, an arm around Natsuki's dark leather covered middle, helping her to her feet as she supported the bulk of the Slayer's weight. "What's wrong with me?" She asked as the skinny girl led her back to her cave, the mountain face reopening the entrance for its guardian without any interaction on the girl's part that Natsuki could see.

"Your injuries from earlier are beginning to effect you even here." The girl explained cryptically, pulling up a low rock next to the still faintly glowing fire pit and helping the weakened Slayer to sit down on it. "Stay." She commanded firmly, even though Natsuki actually felt that she was too weak to attempt to stand. The Slayer's stomach roiled in fear, she had never felt this weak before, not since before the First District anyway. And now she was alone in this strange world with no way to contact any of the people she cared about. Granted her ally seemed kind enough, but the girl child certainly didn't look like she was a doctor with the skill to help heal the Slayer if she was truly sick.

"Who are you?" She repeated her question from earlier.

"I am the latest protector of this realm between realities." The girl spoke her voice serious and full of pride. "I fight off creatures that attack the stability of this realm, either directly or by lending my strength to the various Champions in the realms of mortals." She grinned girlishly at Natsuki. She then turned abruptly and loped over to the cave wall, leaning her sword against it before drawing a long knife from a sheath strapped to a thin thigh. She raised a strong dirty hand to rub her chin thoughtfully for a moment as she made her decision nodding firmly to herself, apparently pleased with the reasoning that she did not share with Natsuki. "Mmhmm, that one will work. It will restore enough of Duran's Champion's strength so that she make the journey home."

"I don't understand." Natsuki admitted. "...Do you have a name?" She asked hesitantly; not quite certain of the girl's true nature and as such had no way to know if her request was offensive. After all, the girl was certainly not what she appeared to be. Young girls, even Slayers, were not found guarding their own shadowy mountain on an alien world like this. A guardian of a realm like this she could easily be older than all of human civilization, and such beings generally did not like to share their names with mortals.

The girl studied Natsuki carefully, her amber eyes shining as she carried the fleshy mushroom that she had cut from its stalk over to the fire, slicing it into chunks with her knife and placing it atop a thin slab of slate before pushing both over the heat. The girl nodded to herself once more, again grinning girlishly as she replied "The Champion may call me Mikoto."

"Then call me Natsuki?" The Slayer asked, a bit uncomfortable being addressed as an emissary of Duran's.

"Mhmm. Natsuki will eat that when it is done. She will feel better." The girl said shortly, and Natsuki wondered at how the girl seemed to oscillate back and forth between two very different ways of speaking.

"Why am I here? And where is this exactly?" Natsuki asked in a voice that was barely louder than a raspy whisper, even though she had her suspicions.

"Hmm... there is no here. Here changes. This is the land between lands, it moves with the boundaries of the others." She reached out and picked up the sharpened bone from the ground, heating it on the rocks before using it to flip the slices of mushroom. "Natsuki is here because she needed to see. The beings that were attacking her world are now attacking this realm directly. I can fight them, but they come more and more often lately and in greater numbers. I cannot normally communicate with the Champions directly, but the Powers That Be permitted me to bring the Champion causing the disruption in the balance to my realm for a short time."

"...you're allowed to lend us your strength but not communicate directly?" Natsuki questioned, though admittedly she'd never understood the rules laid out by the Powers That Be when Duran explained them either.

Mikoto shrugged, "Not for everything. Only if there are creatures crossing between realms. The hybrid demons of your reality are not something I am permitted to help with." Her amber eyes shone brighter and the dying fire flared stronger as she added, "Only to watch." The words were heavy with the weary grief of long existence that was always present in Duran's tone when he talked about things from his time before Natsuki.

"Have you been here long?" Natsuki asked now certain that Mikoto was more than she appeared.

Mikoto did not answer at first, poking the roasting mushrooms with her crude utensil. Apparently satisfied with the results she reached out to grab the rock from the fire with her bare hands, despite the fact that it must have been very hot. Resting the rock on the floor of the cave so it could cool she answered, "I have been here for as long as I can remember existing. I don't know if I existed before. But time... it passes differently here. Sometimes it passes much faster than in your reality and sometimes much slower. I know I have aided many Champions in many realities."

"Because you're protecting the Key?" Natsuki asked, confused.

Mikoto shook her head firmly, "The Powers That Be must oversee the balance of countless realities. I guard this realm that acts as a buffer between the more complete universes coming in contact with each other. Though since the Key is one of the ways to collapse several realities together, that means I can help in situations involving its safety."

Natsuki raised her hand to rub the space between her eyes as Mikoto's explanation succeeded only in giving her the beginnings of a headache and making her even more confused than she had been already. "But you're not ever allowed to interact with the more complete universes directly? Isn't that horribly lonely?" Even though Mikoto clearly wasn't human, she looked human, so Natsuki couldn't imagine how she could survive unknown ages of what seemed like complete isolation.

Mikoto just shrugged, "Sometimes. But... my realm does not exist in the same sense that yours does. I don't exist all of the time. Most of the time I'm someone else, occasionally more than one person at once. ...Sometimes I am you."

"...I thought Duran gave me my strength?" Natsuki asked despite herself, even though she knew that whatever answer could be given probably wouldn't explain anything to her.

"...Duran supplies you the magick so that you can access strength from the realms between universes. And you are not always me, I just sometimes am you. But I am not just you, I help all Champions of the Powers That Be when I am allowed, or when my realm is not existing separately I simply exist with one or several of you, even when I am not permitted to help."

"But I'm here because you needed to tell me that there are creatures attacking this realm? And what? Causing you to be in separate existence more often or what?" Natsuki asked, uncertain.

Mikoto nodded, "That is the reason for the storm. Something is widening the rift between some of the mortal realities, allowing creatures from hell dimensions to attempt to use my realm as passage into the realities closest to theirs."

"...and this is because of the key?"

"No. Because the balance is off. And because of the key. The one you call 'Alyssa' was intended by the Powers That Be to try and counterbalance the introduction of a second line of Slayers. Right now though, in the state she is in, she is drawing on her power constantly and creating this instability."

"So what do I need to do to fix it?"

"...I don't know. I only brought you here to inform you of the problem. Maybe if you got her to wake up?" Mikoto suggested, experimentally reaching out to touch the cooking rock. "It is cool enough now for you to touch Natsuki. You should eat; the food will give you enough strength to return home."

"Enough strength to return?" Natsuki asked, obediently taking the improvised food tray as Mikoto offered it to her. "I thought I was dreaming. How can eating food here affect me?"

Mikoto shook her head, "You are not dreaming."

Natsuki paused with a piece of mushroom almost to her mouth, "But I remember falling asleep. What else would this be? How would I know?"

"You'll know when you wake up." Mikoto replied, a playful grin on her face. "Eat. You have been here longer than you think, you need to hurry."

"I'm glad I got to meet you Mikoto." Natsuki said quietly as she took a tentative bite of the strange food, pleasantly surprised when it didn't taste like dust or slime or something. "How will I know if you're with me at a certain time?"

Mikoto shrugged, "I don't think you could know. I don't even know, because when I am you I am not myself." Just as Natsuki started to feel even weaker, falling forward onto the rock floor, the world around her rapidly disintegrating, Mikoto added, "Oh. Tell Mai hello for me."

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

_who am I, to need you when I'm down?_

Everything hurt. That was the first thing that she became aware of as she clawed her way through the thick darkness around her, toward a white light and a low comforting murmur of voices that she recognized from somewhere. It was a dull pain, the pain of injuries already healing, but the pain was all over. She couldn't even locate a part of her body that didn't hurt for comparison. _Who am I?_ She thought, confused for long moments until her brain seemed to finally kick in, flooding her foggy consciousness with memories of her life until now. But something vitally important was missing. Something had just happened... some reason for the pain. Some bit of information that she needed to tell Midori.

She eased open eyes that were painfully dry, blinking slightly as they adjusted to light and the disorientation of not seeing what she expected to when she opened them. Taking in the decoration of the room, this was obviously the hospital. Though given the amount of pain she was in that part of her situation wasn't too surprising. The surprising thing was what made her immediately shut her eyes nearly as soon as she opened them, hoping that the two girls keeping vigil at her bedside hadn't noticed her awakening. _Shizuru and Mai are both here. What am I supposed to do?_ Natsuki panicked as she tried to keep her breathing slow and even.Suddenly trying to figure out exactly what all the pain was from was a much lesser concern when compared to, how does one deal with being around both of the girls she was kindof in love with at the same time?

At least listening to their conversation Natsuki got the impression that the two young women were getting along with each other. Mai sounded perhaps a little bit off centre as she spoke, but that could as easily be because Shizuru always made people nervous when she first met them, not necessarily because of anything to do with Natsuki. She was actually rather impressed as she listened to Mai asking Shizuru about drama team in her disarmingly caring way and Shizuru responding openly and enthusiastically about how much she had enjoyed the first club meeting. Natsuki wondered how much of that was Shizuru's new effort to make more friends and how much was Mai's inherent caring nature making Shizuru just feel more comfortable around her. Hearing no hint of conflict between the two girls she cared for, Natsuki allowed herself to simply drift on the edge of consciousness. She was still so weary and the low soothing sounds of their voices was wonderfully comforting and relaxing.

She didn't really know why it was that these two females seemed to be able to effect her so strongly. Shizuru and Mai were so very different from each other and yet Natsuki found herself drawn irresistibly to both of them. Part of it, she suspected, was that no matter how different from each other they were in most ways, both Mai and Shizuru had a tendency to be very physically and emotionally affectionate with her. Both were constantly hugging her and affirming how very special Natsuki's presence in their lives was, treating Natsuki like an irreplaceable and important person to them. And the Slayer found that she craved such attention in a desperate way, though she was often embarrassed to admit it aloud. She suspected that at least part of the intensity of her craving for affection came from the years during her childhood when she had lived in nearly complete isolation from anything resembling love, but even awareness of a probable cause had no effect on her feelings. She still wasn't sure exactly what to name her intense feelings for both friends other than love. The emotions she felt around each were subtly different from each other, but so vastly different than how she felt about anyone else that Natsuki figured they must at least be incredibly similar.

The subtle difference in the feelings she felt for each of them was due to the nature of Natsuki herself. Natsuki often times felt as though she were two different people trapped in the same body. There was the part of her that she associated with being a Slayer. It was primal and instinctive, urging her to control her surroundings and protect what was hers, giving her the courage and cunning to fight her enemies in the seemingly endless struggle for survival that was her life. It was this side of her in particular that seemed the most drawn to Mai, something about the orange haired witch strongly triggered her need to possess and protect. When she touched Mai she felt powerful, unbeatable. But then there was her other side, the part of her that was 'just a normal girl'. The part of her that loved science and pretty flowers, the part of her that felt vulnerable when she thought about the future but still had hopes of living in it. Shizuru seemed to effortlessly bring out the giggling and shy girl who blushed at the slightest compliment, and a small touch from Shizuru could leave Natsuki trembling, feeling more human than she ever felt around anyone. A touch from either of them reminded her in a visceral way that she was alive, and in different ways they urged her to keep fighting, to never give up or accept defeat even in the face of impossible odds.

Natsuki had spent hours turning over in her mind which side was her 'true self', what part of her nature she should listen to more. Eventually though she had come to the inescapable conclusion that they were both the 'real Natsuki'. If somehow she were to be split into what seemed at first to be two separate people, left as only the warrior or only the smarter than average girl, she would have lost something essential that made her the person she was. And even if one part was more drawn to a certain person, they were so intertwined that the Slayer part of her certainly felt protective and possessive of Shizuru as well, and the normal girl enjoyed Mai's caring and curiosity. It was an impossible quandary and one that Mai had seemed quite insistent would necessarily need to be decided one way or the other. The orange haired girl had been certain that Shizuru would never agree to a situation where Natsuki simply refused to commit and she had barely spoken Shizuru. But Natsuki who had known Shizuru nearly her entire life, found that she really didn't know what Shizuru's take on such a situation would be. And indeed Natsuki wasn't entirely certain that she could even ask Shizuru about something like that without violating her promise to give Shizuru some space...

As her own thoughts became more uncomfortable to her than the prospect of facing the girls themselves, Natsuki again opened her eyes. This time the light was less uncomfortable to her, and she stretched out her arms slightly, the feeling of movement after a long time sleeping feeling pleasant even though she was still feeling horribly pained all over. "Hey." She spoke roughly, her throat somewhat sore, though strangely not as sore as she thought it should have been.

"Natsuki, you're awake!" Mai exclaimed, seeming to just barely restrain herself from leaping out of her uncomfortable hospital chair to hug her friend.

"My Natsuki has caused both of us an inordinate amount of worry these past few days." Shizuru added in a lightly scolding and calm voice, but Natsuki could tell from the way her warm rusty eyes were studying her that Shizuru was just as pleased to see Natsuki awake as Mai.

"Worried?" Natsuki questioned, hardly recognizing her own voice, "What happened exactly?" She asked, still vaguely aware that there was something important that she was missing here.

Mai nodded replying in a shaky voice, "When I got home from work... I found you lying unconscious on your bed. You were covered with blood and barely breathing." Mai's hands trembled as she spoke and Natsuki was surprised when Shizuru reached out and placed a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. Mai took a deep breath, "I'd never seen anything so frightening in my entire life. There wasn't any sign of a fight... but you were bleeding all over and horribly bruised, I almost wouldn't have recognized you... I immediately called the emergency number and made sure that you were taken to Yohko's hospital. Then I called Midori and Shizuru." She added, pausing and glancing nervously at the older girl sitting next to her who reached out hesitantly to take Natsuki's hand, "...That was four days ago Natsuki. And even with you being unconscious for so long I can hardly believe how quickly you healed, though Yohko assured me that you would. ...when I first saw you I didn't know how you were going to be able to get better."

At Mai's words bits and pieces of memory began to return to Natsuki, fragments of a dream that was more than a dream. An urgent message that she needed to tell someone. "Midori." Natsuki blurted out without explanation, at the girls' confused looks she added, "...I mean, I need to tell her something. When I was out, I had a vision. Alyssa's magick is still active somehow, she needs to figure out a way for us to deal with that." Even as she spoke, Shizuru reached out and grabbed a notebook and pen that had been resting on the table beside Natsuki's hospital bed, opening to the inside cover and writing Natsuki's message for Midori on it in her neat and elegant handwriting.

"I was helping Mai study for her chemistry quiz on Monday earlier." Shizuru explained when Natsuki looked confused at her having a notebook here.

"Though if you hadn't woken up before then I wasn't going to go." Mai added defiantly.

"...Four days. I can hardly believe I was out that long. I don't think I've ever been hurt that badly before." Natsuki mused, able to contemplate the content of what Mai had told her now that she knew Midori would get her message.

"It was awful Natsuki, I was so scared." Mai repeated, still trembling slightly at the memory.

Shizuru turned sympathetic rusty eyes to Mai for a moment, "I'll admit I don't like to think about finding Natsuki so injured either." She dropped her eyes to study her hand holding Natsuki's gently tracing over the still darkly bruised skin on the back of her wrist with her thumb. "I'm not sure how I would have reacted."

Mai shook her head, studying Natsuki's bruises with sad blue eyes, "Honestly I'm not sure how my brain managed to think clearly enough to get me to call the right people, inside I was completely falling apart."

"But you still thought to call me." Shizuru pointed out, her rusty eyes looking at Mai curiously with a combination of gratitude and wonder. "I don't know if I would have thought to call Mai-san in such a situation, certainly not right away."

Mai blushed slightly though she also looked uncomfortable with Shizuru's scrutiny, "If you two wanted some alone time I could leave for a while. I just didn't want to leave until I knew that you were going to be okay Natsuki." She rambled awkwardly, shifting her eyes back and forth between the two old friends, her gaze either consciously or not lingering on their linked hands.

Natsuki felt a surge of panic at the sight of Mai starting to leave, and before she could censor herself around Shizuru she blurted out exactly what she was thinking, "Mai, please don't go." She pleaded, reaching out with her other hand and wincing when doing so pulled uncomfortably at the plastic IV-tube slowly dripping happy drugs into the vein.

Mai still hesitated, looking to Shizuru instead of Natsuki, as if asking the older girl's permission to stay. Shizuru however was smiling indulgently at Natsuki, a knowing look in her rusty eyes. After a moment she shifted her gaze to Mai, a mischievous quirk to her lips as she studied her Natsuki's roommate. "I do not mind Mai-san's presence. Indeed, at the moment she is a better conversationalist than my Natsuki who I can tell just by looking is going to fall asleep again soon." Shizuru smiled wider as Natsuki let out an indignant huff at that suggestion, "So unless you truly need to be elsewhere you should stay, for my sake if not for Natsuki's." Despite Shizuru's teasing, Natsuki couldn't help smiling contentedly when Mai quietly thanked Shizuru and sat back down in her chair next to the older girl.

"Thanks... I guess I just missed both of you since I haven't seen either of you in days." Natsuki justified her actions, even though she strongly suspected she wasn't fooling either of them. "Wait... four days? What day is it today?"

"Sunday." Shizuru replied, pouting slightly.

"I'm sorry Shizuru, I didn't mean to miss our trip." Natsuki apologized sincerely, as though there might have been something she could have done to recover from such severe injuries faster when she wasn't even conscious.

Shizuru shrugged, "It's fine Natsuki. Actually the timing might work out better this way, because my father called me this morning. Isn't that surprising Natsuki?" Her rusty eyes were teasingly wide with confusion, as though she didn't know exactly who was responsible for her father's call. "We decided it would be nice to reschedule for next weekend since he was able to cancel the meeting he was supposed to be attending in Osaka. If Natsuki is feeling better by then I know we would both love for you to join us."

"I wouldn't miss it." Natsuki replied, yawning widely, her eyes feeling heavier. "Damn it." She complained, stubbornly trying to fight off sleep, after all she had apparently been sleeping for days. The warm touch of Shizuru's hand gently caressing her cheek though was all it took for her eyes to start sliding shut. "Not... fair."

The last thing she heard as she fell into a pleasant sleep was Shizuru's light giggle and teasing reply, "And when has Natsuki ever known me to play fair? Rest. I promise you won't be alone when you wake up." So she slept, dreaming of fighting strange monsters with a huge sword certain she would never lose a fight, and the kind words and touches of the two she cared for as her reward.


	17. Chapter 17

DISCLAIMER: I got to thinking of the characters and relationships in my fic in the context of elements... I like to think of my Natsuki as something of a carbon atom. Capable of simultaneously forming several covalent bonds, but still amiable to changing them when presented with an alternative. She prefers not to be alone and likes to have friends, but under the right circumstances of heat and pressure she can turn into a hard and unbreakable substance, solid and yet still beautiful. Shizuru is probably more like something in the oxygen family... she really wants a certain thing and gods help anything that gets in her way. Once you've experienced life with her, it's hard to imagine going back to the way things were before, despite how dangerous she can be. -.o Certainly we should put Haruka on the other side with the things that explode in water...maybe potassium or sodium. ^.^ And Mai... I dunno... maybe she's more like one of those metals in the middle that you can never quite predict exactly which way they're going to go with something. Perhaps iron, since it seems like a perfectly reliable and helpful metal under normal circumstances, but yet it's the metal that if a large star has percentagewise too much of it, causes supernovae... and Mai just seems like that kindof girl. ^.^

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

Tokyo, Japan; late Sunday April 29, 2000

When Natsuki woke again she was feeling a bit less sore all over but there were still some sharp pains in her sides when she breathed, presumably from a broken rib or three that hadn't healed yet. She didn't want to imagine how severely they might have been broken to begin with if they still hurt so much, she was probably lucky none of them had punctured a lung or something else important. There was also the question of how the injuries could have happened in the first place when she knew it took an incredible amount of force to break her bones. She had no sense of how much time had passed since the last time she was awake, but the lights in her room were off and outside her window it was clearly night time. Still, light streaming in under the door from the hallway offered more than enough for the Slayer to see by as she surveyed her room with a slightly elevated heart rate. Thanks to the First District she never felt comfortable in hospitals but until now she'd been fortunate enough to avoid been injured enough to have to stay in one overnight.

An affectionate smile came to her lips when she noticed her Watcher asleep in the chair next to her bed, her arms across her chest and head fallen forward. Long bright red hair fell loose around her face instead of tied back in her trademark ponytail and she was dressed casually in faded jeans and a light brown Indiana Jones t-shirt. Natsuki giggled at the sight, wondering if any of Midori's other students besides perhaps Mai and Shizuru would even recognize their teacher if they saw her now. Actually she was a little relieved that it was just her Watcher there and not either of them, since even though part of her always wanted to see the two girls she was infatuated with, she felt uncomfortable to have them see her weak like this. Midori though wasn't someone she was trying to impress so her presence was merely comforting. Natsuki felt her initial fear at waking up in a strange location fading away as she gazed at the one constant in her life she could always count on.

Glancing at the bedside table she noticed a heavily bound book held open to a certain page with Midori's reading glasses resting on it. She could barely make out the hand written inked lines of text on the thick age-yellowed pages, but all that allowed her to determine was that while she recognized some of the letters used, the language wasn't English. No doubt Midori had only stopped to take a nap because she had found what she was looking for in the text, otherwise Natsuki was sure that no matter how insanely late it must be she would have woken to find her Watcher still reading. She reached out to turn on the bedside table lamp before laying a gentle hand on Midori's arm and saying her name softly, trying to wake the woman without startling her too badly.

Hazel eyes slowly opened, a wide charming grin forming as Midori took in the sight of Natsuki awake and mostly healthy again. "Hey, it's so good to see you awake." She spoke roughly even as her gold flecked green eyes carefully studied her Slayer's face for any sign that she was still in pain. "I've never been so worried..."

Smiling back at the redhead, Natsuki found herself wondering how she could look at Midori's beauty so objectively compared to how she saw Shizuru or Mai. It was strange because she definitely thought that Midori was a very attractive woman, but noticing or even appreciating that didn't give her the tense feeling that made her feel like she had to do something about it. Not that she was complaining since her life was certainly complicated enough without adding _that_ particular dilemma into the mix, but maybe it was something she should think about to better understand the subtly different feelings her crushes invoked in her.

"Sorry to have worried you." Natsuki replied, wondering how many more times she would have to say those words to her Watcher.

Midori shook her head smirking faintly, also remembering all the times in the past that Natsuki had uttered that phrase only to go out and again do something to leave her Watcher an emotional worried mess. "As long as you're okay it's all worth it." Her eyes drifted to study the plastic tube still slowly dripping pain killers into her Slayer's vein on the back of a hand still covered in fading bruises before shifting up to study Natsuki's bright green ones. "I'll admit though that this time it was worse than usual. What happened exactly? Mai-chan told me that it didn't look like you'd even been attacked by anything."

Natsuki shrugged, "I know it's completely unhelpful, but I can't remember many details. There are a few memories clear enough to recall some specific details, but most of them don't make much sense at all. I know there were demons in my Slayer dream and there was some sort of warning about needing to get Alyssa out of her coma or else something apocalypsey will happen... but other than that everything is fragmented or out of focus. Almost like the things that happened there can't really be reconstructed clearly by my conscious mind at all. It's frustrating because in a way it was like waking up from a dream where you know you had some really life changing revelation, but the memory of exactly what you learned is just out of reach. And I know that there was something that I learned there too..." she trailed off, gripping the thin ugly brownish-green hospital blanket tightly in her fists with frustration. "How the dream managed to affect my physical body like that is a complete mystery too, obviously it was more than a dream in some ways but I can't really explain how."

Midori looked thoughtfully at Natsuki, "Well... I guess it's good that you were at least able to recall the most immediately pressing issue. It's always possible that the rest will return to you in time, and if not there are things we can try after we deal with the more time sensitive issues. I know a few meditation techniques that are often useful for sorting out fuzzy memories."

"Thanks Midori." She replied with a faint smile, "And you're right, we should focus on trying to stop Alyssa from accidentally killing all of us before worrying about anything else, it's just frustrating to me that I can't remember." Natsuki sighed, resting her face in her hands and rubbing her forehead to try and ease the insistent throbbing pain behind her eyes that had been building since she turned the light on. Dropping her hands she noticed Midori studying her with a worried expression, so she nodded to the book on the bedside table, hoping to distract her Watcher from worrying over a problem that she wouldn't be able to help fix by pointing out something she'd already solved. "I take it that's your research into how we can go about waking Alyssa?"

"Yeah..." Midori confirmed reaching out to grab the book and her glasses from the table. Placing her glasses on her face she studied the page the book was open to, letting out a long breath before continuing, "I found something anyway. It won't help us I don't think, though admittedly this is a translated version of the spell so I could be missing some detail... but the original is likely lost to history so this will have to do. It's a Latin translation of a Greek explorer's account of a Minoan spirit walker trial." Midori explained, before clearing her throat slightly and launching into her rough Japanese translation of the account. "A great oracle was caught in the land between life and death, her body was being slowly consumed by the dark magicks while she slept for seemingly endless days, helpless. Her younger sister, unable to watch the oracle dying in such a horrific way, pleaded with the head of their city council for permission to undergo the spirit walker trial. Performing this dangerous sacred right would admit her spirit to the lands between so that she could appeal to the gods for a chance to save her sister. She was required to offer a sacrifice of blood over the sacred temple fire and offer her soul to the goddess for judgement. As soon as she finished her chant, her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed onto the stone floor. Hours later both the brave young woman and the oracle died without regaining consciousness. The Greek explorer mentions overhearing someone lamenting that the sister didn't have a spiritual anchor to guide her back to her body, but someone replied that she simply must not have been strong enough to complete the trial and was unable to face that all her efforts weren't enough to save her sister." Midori shrugged, "He included a transcription of the chant in the original language spoken by the woman as she offered her sacrifice as well, though I don't know if the exact words are as important as the sacrifice itself and the intent. Also the fact that she was a close blood relative of the person whose soul was in limbo is said to be a strict requirement for the spirit walker trial."

"Huh." Natsuki commented, fascinated despite herself about such a detailed account of the spiritual practices of a civilization wiped out long ago. "I guess that doesn't help us ... Alyssa is adopted and she's been experimented on heavily besides. It's still a fascinating story though."

"Yeah. I'm sorry Natsuki... I thought this one might have an option for us, but even aside from the problems you mentioned, a trial like this would be far too dangerous to ask anyone to undertake. The person doing the spirit walk could end up being trapped in a hell dimension if anything went wrong." Midori added shaking her head at the myriad of problems associated with this particular solution. "I was planning on starting a new line of research when I went home."

Natsuki glanced around the room, peering out the window at the brightly lit city night for a moment wishing she could be out there killing vampires instead of stuck inside, or better yet back in her dorm room with Mai. "What time is it anyway? It's got to be awfully late."

"Um... I don't know actually, it wasn't late when I last checked..." The redhead said as she checked the black digital watch on her wrist, "It's only about eleven. I was just sitting with you until Yohko was done with her shift for the night." Midori explained reasonably, but Natsuki noticed the dark circles under her eyes that told a different story. She suspected that her Watcher had been sitting in that uncomfortable chair all night every night since Natsuki was brought in, not wanting to allow her Slayer to wake up in a strange environment alone. It wasn't something Natsuki liked to talk about, but the months immediately after Midori had taken the Slayer out of the First District's facility, she had regularly woken up in the middle of the night crying, afraid that meeting Midori had been nothing more than a dream. The Watcher had simply moved her futon into Natsuki's room so that she would be close by, her easily visible presence comforting the young girl enough that she could sleep through the night. Once they moved to Tokyo and Natsuki got to know Shizuru and other children her age the incidents had grown much less frequent, but Midori clearly knew that Natsuki would never be completely over her fear of being alone.

Natsuki gave her Watcher a thankful look, letting her know that she knew how much Midori cared about her, and that she appreciated her not bringing up a weakness that Natsuki would rather forget. Deciding that words wouldn't be able to express her thanks she held open her arms, grinning when Midori hugged her just a bit too tightly for her still sore ribs, ignoring the physical pain so that she could soak up the emotional comfort. She sighed contentedly as she breathed in the faint scent of old parchment, leather and shampoo. "Thanks." She murmured simply, knowing that Midori would understand what she meant.

Some minutes later the door to Natsuki's room eased open to allow a tired looking Yohko to enter, the clipboard holding the Slayer's charts in her hands. The doctor strictly prohibited anyone on her staff from uploading any part of the Slayer's medical records into the computer system or making photocopies, and only senior members of her staff were even allowed to work with Natsuki directly; since even someone with a basic knowledge of medicine would be able to see that Natsuki's rate of recovery from her extensive internal injuries was far from normal. Despite her fatigue the ER doctor couldn't contain her amused laughter at the sight that greeted her. "Aaw, you two are so cute. I swear you both act so tough but you're the most sentimental females I know."

Midori laughed as well pulling back from Natsuki, she smiled at the light blush she saw as she ruffled the teenager's long dark hair affectionately, "Whatever Yohko, I've never heard you complain."

The doctor smirked, crossing the room to give Midori a short hug before flopping down onto the chair her lover had been using earlier. "Nope, no complaints from me." She teased back, looking over Natsuki's charts for a few moments, nodding approvingly at what she saw before looking back at Midori, "So, do you feel better now that you've seen your brat's smiling face again?" She rolled her eyes when Midori gave her a 'who me?' expression of innocence. "Your Watcher hasn't been to her apartment since Wednesday for anything other than basic hygiene or books." The doctor explained, finally addressing Natsuki directly.

Natsuki blushed under the doctor's regard, feeling simultaneously warmed and guilty as she heard someone else confirming how much she meant to Midori. After all she knew without a doubt that for as long as Midori cared for someone like a Slayer, she would be constantly worrying. But she needed her Watcher's support and affection like she needed air. The mere thought of facing her endless fight alone was too much to bear, so no matter how much she tried to protect the people she cared about from the dangers that lurked in the night, she could never push them far enough away to protect them from worrying. "I'm sorry." She replied finally in a soft voice, unable to summon her bravado for a snarky return comment.

It seemed that even Yohko's well buried maternal side wasn't immune to the effects of a sincerely forlorn and guilty Slayer, as the doctor immediately dropped her teasing. "Hey it's okay. I'm just glad you're finally healing up. Midori's caring about you so much is one of the things I respect most about her... I think you're a good kid and more than worth her time and effort." The doctor sighed quietly, "In any other case I might ask you to try and be more careful, but I know that's a useless request."

Natsuki blushed shyly, softly thanking Yohko for her reluctantly given kind words. "I wish I could be more careful too." She added wistfully, studying her hands thoughtfully. "You two can head home if you want, it's getting pretty late and I know you must be tired."

"Are you sure you'll be okay here tonight?" Midori asked ignoring Yohko's slightly confused look at that question.

Natsuki nodded making sure she wasn't thinking about her plans for the night, hoping her face wouldn't give her away as she replied, "I'll be fine Midori, I promise. You two go home and get some sleep."

Luckily for Natsuki, Midori was too tired to pick up on her minor deception and although Yohko worked with people all day, the doctor wasn't one to read into people's motives for things. Midori merely nodded, looking a bit guilty for doubting Natsuki, "Okay, if you're sure. Your cellphone is in your pack of stuff in the corner if you need to call me for anything, and the Game Boy and some books are in there too if you're tired of sleeping." She leaned in to give Natsuki another hug before she left, "I'm so glad you're okay Natsuki."

"Thanks. I'll talk to you tomorrow?" The Slayer confirmed, hoping that Midori wouldn't be too upset when she realized why Natsuki really wanted her to head home tonight.

"Count on it." Midori assured her, turning back to Yohko who had already gathered the redhead's own backpack full of research materials, barely containing her eagerness to leave the hospital to a polite level in Natsuki's presence. The Slayer couldn't fault the doctor though, since her plans for tonight didn't involve staying in this hospital room either. She waved goodbye to her Watcher, and waited only a few moments after the door closed behind the two adult women before she began putting her plan into action.

Without hesitation she ripped off the tape holding her IV in, allowing the thin plastic tube to slip from her vein which barely had time to bleed before it started healing. She hadn't turned up the drip rate since she woke up, so she was hoping that the effects of the pain killers would wear off within a few more minutes. Even though she trusted Yohko more than any other doctor, she still hadn't told the woman how much less those affected her compared with a normal human since she wasn't sure that the doctor would understand her fear of them. And even if she would understand, explaining it would require disclosing her weakness, something Natsuki just wasn't comfortable with around many people.

Crossing the small room she opened the backpack Midori had left for her, smiling at the change of normal street clothes inside. Really it was almost as though her Watcher knew exactly what she would want to do as soon as she was healthy enough. Natsuki quickly stripped out of her flimsy hospital gown, washing up as well as she could in the small sink in her room before quickly putting on her jeans, boots, blue t-shirt and soft black hoodie; wincing slightly when she had to raise her arms over her head, pulling at what felt like several rows of stitches in her sides. Moments later she had her backpack thrown over one shoulder as she casually walked out of her room, strolling down the busy hallways toward the exit with no sign of pain, even waving to a few nurses she recognized from the ER who didn't seem to remember that Natsuki was supposed to be a patient tonight instead of just passing through on patrol.

The Slayer breathed a sigh of relief when she finally stepped out into the cool humid night air, taking in the sounds of cars, trucks and buses and busy humans hurrying towards one destination or another even so late at night. It maybe wasn't an idyllic little town where everyone knew each other, but this was her city; with its brightly lit skyline, crowded streets and more people than she could possibly hope to protect. But for as long as she'd lived here she'd spent countless nights roaming the backstreets and alleyways; taking out the more dangerous vampires and demons, trying her best to save as many of these precious strangers as she could. For a moment she pondered whether or not she should do a quick patrol before going to catch the bus back to the school, sure she was injured enough that most people in her position would still be back in the hospital, but she had an important destiny after all. Glancing across the street she checked the time on the large digital clock outside of a bank. Noticing that she had another thirty minutes before she could catch a bus on the route that went to her campus, Natsuki grinned to herself as she headed into the alley running between the line of cheap apartment buildings surrounding the hospital.

She walked a few blocks into the quiet alley, enjoying the gentle night breeze that brought the smell of exhaust fumes and garbage from overflowing dumpsters behind the low rent buildings to her sensitive nose, even those normally unpleasant smells a welcome change from the overly sterile hospital room. The Slayer couldn't help notice how quiet the night was and she was getting ready to turn circle back when her search, in an area of town that she knew to be a popular vamp hunting area, turned up nothing. Then she finally spotted the first sign of movement. But the pale cloaked figure leaning with obviously forced casualness against a brick wall, a floppy wide-brimmed hat pulled down to shield her eyes, was instantly recognizable by Natsuki and clearly neither vampire or demon. "Miyu?" She squeaked incredulously, wondering why on Earth she would be finding the android lurking in dark alleys late at night when prior to her injury she hadn't seen the pale female in days. Still, the sight of Alyssa's loyal protector eased the worry that had been haunting her for a week. Although the android seemed very powerful, it didn't seem out of the question that her creators had punished her or even reprogrammed her for allowing Alyssa out of their direct control.

Even a block away Miyu immediately turned at the sound of Natsuki's voice, her body language indicating surprise at hearing her name. Seeing Natsuki the android quickly turned, walking stiffly in the Slayer's direction, her pale lips curled into an awkward and forced-seeming polite smile; but by now Natsuki knew Miyu well enough to know that she might be genuinely pleased and simply unable to recreate the human expression naturally because she was thinking about it too hard. "Natsuki." She greeted briefly, echoing the Slayer's casual way of addressing people "...How did you recognize me?"

"Um... well you're a pretty recognizable person Miyu." Natsuki explained hesitantly, worried about potentially offending the android even though she had never shown any hint of vanity. "I've never seen anyone else with that hair colour who was younger than their sixties, and you have a very distinctive posture."

"...I see. Then my disguise was not effective." Miyu said, removing her oversized black hat and eyeing it with a disappointed frown.

"It does look good on you though, even if it doesn't hide your identity." Natsuki added, hoping to reassure her tentative new friend, noting with curiosity how Miyu's hair seemed totally unaffected by its time under the quirky hat, when her own would have become hopelessly frizzy. She didn't even used to care about her hair, but the last couple of years Natsuki found herself spending more time making sure it looked nice, realizing how lucky she was to be blessed with hair that was relatively low maintenance.

"Thanks Natsuki." Miyu replied, blushing slightly as she shoved the hat back onto her head, a much more natural shy smile appearing in reaction to the compliment. "I'm pleased to see you functional again."

The Slayer shrugged, awkwardly putting her hands into the pockets of her sweatshirt, not sure how she felt about her injuries being common knowledge. "Yeah, I seem to be getting my ass kicked by all sorts of things lately." She lamented, not feeling too good about her slaying prowess when the last fight she could remember winning outright was against a bunch of bugs. Movement in her peripheral vision drew her attention, her claws almost extending as she itched for a chance to prove herself... but it turned out to be just a small tortoiseshell cat watching the two humans suspiciously as she jealously guarded a bit of food pilfered from a nearby dumpster. "Why were you trying to disguise yourself anyway?" Natsuki asked to draw the attention away from her own issues.

"I told the board of directors that Alyssa had been kidnapped and that I am looking for her. I don't want anyone to be able to report seeing me near the hospital and raise suspicions. Fortunately our client in California seems unconcerned, since he says he has plenty of backup plans in case we can't deliver." The android explained, not realizing that her words would lead to Natsuki worrying that even if she managed to stop Alyssa that this mysterious California man had other ideas up his sleeve to turn Earth back into a hell dimension. "Still the board of directors is understandably worried about such an 'expensive investment' going missing." Miyu added her clinched fists and tense tones making her disgust at the company referring to her precious angel as a mere _investment_ abundantly clear.

"Were you at least able to find out any information that we could use to help her get better?" Natsuki asked hopefully even as she let out a frustrated sigh, "We haven't found anything usable yet with our research. All I've been able to find so far is a second opinion telling me how important it is to wake her up."

"No." Miyu's voice was sad as she replied, carefully studying Natsuki with an unreadable expression on her face. "I learned nothing about _that_ problem."

"...Miyu please don't tell me that there's something else we have to worry about." Natsuki pleaded, bringing a hand up to rub her forehead that was still throbbing slightly and not being at all helped by the prospect of yet another impossible issue requiring her attention.

"I do not think that it is a problem exactly... I just discovered some information that has required an extensive amount of processing time to evaluate. And the implications of it still elude me." But Miyu still looked troubled when she replied, so her words were less reassuring than they might have been.

"It must be at least somewhat problematic if it's making you all introspective like that." Natsuki prodded, walking over to lean against a nearby brick wall since the pain from her injuries was starting to become stronger now that the last of her pain killers were wearing off completely, placing her backpack on the ground leaning against her feet. She wondered just how crazy she was to think that it would be a good idea to go on patrol when she could barely stand in this condition, but hunting at night was an urge that she just couldn't deny herself.

"You are not actually completely repaired are you?" Miyu asked suspiciously, observing Natsuki's behaviour much more carefully than the Slayer would have thought she would bother with.

Natsuki shrugged defensively, "It's an ongoing process. I can self-repair faster than a normal human at least... I was just tired of being in that building. I needed to be somewhere else."

"...That is most inefficient." Miyu complained.

"I'm sure if you associate with more humans you'll learn that we are rarely motivated only by efficiency. Actually if you want to learn something about humans and efficiency you should visit a lingerie store." Natsuki replied with a faint smirk, enjoying the look of confusion on the android's face. _She seems so much more emotive tonight; I wonder what she found out?_ "Miyu, tell me what you learned. You don't have to worry about me; I won't push things any more than this tonight." Natsuki added, wanting to reassure the surprisingly concerned Miyu. She wasn't sure what to make of it; before she remembered the android viewing her as an unfortunately necessary ally at best.

Miyu sighed, again taking off her hat and crushing the brim of it in her hands, her loose pale hair falling in her sad eyes making her seem like just a normal girl. "It... the information I learned... it gave me so many conflicting feelings. I'm not sure what to make of it." The android admitted, for once not offering a direct response to a request for pure information.

Natsuki found herself feeling a great deal of empathy for Miyu as she realized that the android didn't have much experience with how complicated human emotions could become. Even her own brain that was the product of millions of years of evolutionary refinement had trouble making sense of them, how much more difficult would it be for whatever substitute could be engineered using even the most advanced of current technology? "Hey... it's alright. That happens to everyone sometimes. You find out something you didn't know and it throws you for a loop." She said, thinking about her own recent recognition of her more than friendly thoughts about two of her closest friends and all the trouble that was causing her as she tried to figure out what to do about it. And there was something else too, some bit of information floating on the edge of her consciousness, just out of grasp that had been giving her a vague sense of disjointedness ever since she woke up earlier in the day. "Why don't you tell me what you found out? Sometimes a more objective opinion can help."

"I will tell you, but I am not at all certain if you will be able to view this anymore objectively than I have been able to." Miyu paused, seeming to have an almost physical difficulty in continuing her explanation. Finally she began speaking again, her words coming out haltingly and in a flat tone, as though the android had turned off her emotional capability for a moment so that she could relay the information at all. "I hypothesized that in order to discover a method of curing Alyssa's condition, I needed to better understand exactly how the magicks were fused to her physical body to make her so powerful. I was able to get a copy of the original document used by the other company that we bought the technique from... the company was called the First District." Miyu stopped speaking, mechanically raising her eyes to see Natsuki's reaction. Clearly her search had also turned up enough about the Slayer's past to know that she would react badly to hearing that name. The First District, the people who had treated her like something less than even an animal.

She was right. Natsuki's breath caught in her throat and her heart rate skyrocketed, suddenly even the act of leaning in a standing position against the wall seemed too much and she carefully lowered herself so that she was sitting on the dirty cement, concentrating on trying to remember to breathe normally. She hated herself for her reaction. Why should those people so far in her past still have enough power over her to turn her into a weak and frightened wreck? She was able to talk about her time there if she prepared herself emotionally beforehand... but to hear them brought up unexpectedly like this... "The... the First District." She said softly, her voice trembling, "They... are not good people." Natsuki wrapped her arms tightly around her legs, her weakened physical state allowing the painful memories of her time in isolation to come back with vivid clarity.

Even though she seemed worried by Natsuki's reaction to her information Miyu seemed frozen, at a complete loss as to how she should proceed, unsure how she could reduce the intensity of the human's emotional response. In the end a plaintive meow was the first thing that managed to pull Natsuki out of the past. The scrawny tortoiseshell cat was apparently equally moved by the Slayer's distress and was now rubbing her head comfortingly against Natsuki's side and purring softly, greenish yellow eyes that reminded the Slayer vaguely of Midori staring up at her face inquisitively. Natsuki had a soft spot for animals of all kinds, and she smiled at the small cat, reaching out cautiously to pet the kitty's head, smiling as her affectionate touch caused the wide round eyes to drift shut and the volume of the purring to increase. "Although I guess if nothing else my tragic past seems to get girls to pay attention to me." Natsuki quipped, wondering if the little cat had a home.

Miyu watched her eyes wide with amazement, "I was not aware that animals had a better understanding of how to deal with complicated human emotions than I do. My programming is clearly faultier than I knew."

Natsuki smiled, her equilibrium almost completely restored, "Don't worry Miyu, it's not just you. Animals are sometimes better at this sort of thing than even other humans. Most other mammals as well as birds have very strongly developed emotions, and no matter what your programmers told you, humans are just animals with unusually large brains. Sometimes I think that their smaller brains are actually an advantage for dealing with them too, since it seems like the more you try to analyze emotions intellectually, the more confused you're likely to become since our emotions have a tendency to bypass logic altogether."

"I see... I've always been fascinated by birds because they can fly and they are pretty, but I never realized they were emotional."

"If you're really interested you should look around on the internet for short videos people have posted up about their pet birds, some of them are pretty amazing." Natsuki offered, happy to help Miyu in her quest to understand humans better. There was just something about the android's outsider perspective on the issue that was fascinating to her, especially since in some ways she often felt like an outsider herself. She sighed, reluctantly acknowledging the need to get back to their more disturbing topic of conversation. "Your mention of the First District is very troubling to me. I assume your research already covered up my link to them?"

Miyu nodded, "I am so sorry they did that to you. I can't imagine what sort of humans would treat one of their own so cruelly. You were younger than my Ojou-sama, but they left you completely alone. ...She at least has me, though I wonder if I am adequate..." The android's voice cracked metallically as she spoke, "I promise you, I have committed their names and faces to memory. If I ever see any of them I will be certain to avenge you with my cannon."

Natsuki blushed slightly, but still clenched her fists aggressively wanting to remind the android that even if she appreciated the sentiment, the Slayer was far from helpless. "Not if I see them first." She growled... and then giggled when the cat meowed inquisitively, clearly wondering why this conversation was important enough to interrupt the petting. "Sorry kitty." Natsuki apologized, obediently resuming the action, smiling as the cat crawled into her lap and flopped down purring contentedly. "...So is that why you've been extra nice to me tonight Miyu? Not that I don't appreciate it, but most of the time I can deal with what happened to me." Natsuki assured her, though she didn't mention that her method of 'dealing' had mainly been to simply try her best to avoid thinking about the First District at all.

"...I admit that is part of the reason. I had never thought about a Champion like you being a small child... since I am a protector too but I was never a child." Miyu shrugged, "When I thought about you being so small and defenceless like my Ojou-sama I guess I started to see you differently."

Natsuki smiled, wondering again at how a machine could've somehow become more emotionally sensitive than her programmers. "What else did you learn?" She prodded softly, even though she knew the answer would likely be some unpleasant information that she never wanted to hear.

Miyu let out slow breath sitting down stiffly next to Natsuki. She blinked in surprise when the small cat climbed out of Natsuki's lap and wandered over to greet the strange new person, placing her paws on Miyu's arm and stretching out her body so that she could sniff the pale girl's face curiously. "Um... Hi kitty." The android replied uncertainly, tentatively scratching the friendly animal under the chin with one finger as though she were extremely worried about accidentally injuring such a small creature. "It's strange, but I do feel better now." Miyu looked at Natsuki thoughtfully for a little while before continuing her voice once again more mechanical sounding, "In the records I learned that the method for imbuing magicks into a human was not the only thing they obtained from the First District. Apparently you can't perform this kind of ritual on just any human, and the First District had hypothesized that the genetic makeup of some humans made them more suitable subjects for this experimentation..." Miyu searched Natsuki's eyes carefully, "My programming and knowledge base don't really allow me to understand the magickal implications but Natsuki, aside from a few superficial modifications to change inconsequential aspects of her appearance, genetically my Ojou-sama is your twin sister."

When Miyu spoke those words Natsuki felt her brain's thoughts grind to a screeching halt. Not even in her wildest imagination would she have thought something like this. _My sister?_ _How?_ Natsuki shook her head, trying to get her mind to do more than repeat Miyu's last phrase over and over. "I never would have guessed..."

The android nodded, her expression clearly showing that she hadn't gotten over the shock of this new information either, even if she had been in possession of it longer than Natsuki, "I found out the same day that you got hurt so badly and had to go to the hospital. I didn't know what to think... a week ago I thought you were someone who would stop at nothing to kill my Ojou-sama, and then that day I learned that you were more her sister than I am... I went to visit you in the hospital when you were still hooked up to all of those machines. You looked so fragile... and the thought that you might die hit me nearly as hard as thinking of losing my Ojou-sama, perhaps since I had just learned how much alike the two of you are."

Natsuki took a deep breath as she listened to the words but also the way the android spoke them, and the pale girl's nervous distress at all the conflicting emotions painfully obvious though it was, helped Natsuki pull herself together a bit. After all, even if the information was pretty Earth-shattering for Natsuki as well, she at least had a bit more experience with the complicated nature of human relationships. Admittedly she was still confused herself from time to time, but she felt that she could offer Miyu come reassurance on at least one issue, "Miyu... it doesn't matter how closely related I am to Alyssa. You're still her sister."

"But genetic similarity determines how closely related two people are. I'm not even human, how could I claim to be closely related to my Ojou-sama?" Miyu pleaded, all but begging Natsuki to point out the flaw in her reasoning so that her world would make some sort of sense again.

The Slayer smiled, easily calling to mind how comforting it felt to be in her Watcher's embrace earlier, "I don't know if this will make sense to you, but just believe me okay? Genetic similarity does indicate how related two people are, but that isn't how you know if someone is your family or not. Sometimes you get lucky and those two things overlap... but in some ways it's even more amazing when someone is your family even though you aren't related to them at all." She explained taking in Miyu's confused but hopeful expression, "You remember when I told you the other night that Midori is my only family now? Well she's not related to me at all. She adopted me when she found me at the First District." Natsuki put an awkward hand on Miyu's shoulder to comfort her, noting curiously how the android didn't seem to give off much body heat, "You're the most important person in the world to Alyssa. Even if you tell her that thanks to some immoral scientists and businessmen she's related to me, I know for a fact that won't change how she feels about you. You're Alyssa's real sister."

Natsuki smiled when Miyu blushed again at her kind words, "I... thank you Natsuki. But... it is possible to have more than one sister isn't it?" She asked waiting for Natsuki's confused but affirmative nod before continuing, "Well... if that's the case, could that make you my sister as well?" This question was asked tentatively, as though the android knew that she didn't completely understand the subtle difference between relation and family and was afraid of offending Natsuki in some way by being presumptuous.

Still Miyu's worries about offending Natsuki were needless, even if she hadn't yet fully come to terms with the implications of having a younger sister that she hadn't known about until now. "I'd like that." Suddenly Natsuki had a thought, and she excitedly unzipped her backpack, smiling when she found her old copy of the first book in the Neverending Story series. Reverently she held the old favourite in her hands, running her fingers over the well-worn hardcover for a moment before handing it to Miyu, who followed Natsuki's example in treating the fragile old book with care.

"What...?" She questioned, not certain what to make of the book.

"A gift." Natsuki explained, "It's my favourite book, I thought reading it might let you get to know me better since we're sisters."

"I see... I regret that I have never read a book other than technical manuals, so I have nothing similar to offer."

"It's okay. I've watched you listen to Alyssa sing; I think that has given me some insight into the things that you care about." Natsuki replied, trying to reassure Miyu that even if she was different, Natsuki knew that the android had many admirable traits. Suddenly a thought occurred to Natsuki, _If Alyssa is my sister, then I could undergo that Minoan spirit walker trial to save her._ This new knowledge strengthened Natsuki's resolve to help the young girl, but also seemed to amplify the fatigue that she already felt from her injuries and pushing herself too hard too soon. She let out a loud yawn, raising her hand to cover her mouth.

"You should not be awake. Your body is still damaged; unless you rest it won't be able to repair itself." Miyu stated firmly, scolding her like she often scolded Midori for her poor sleeping habits.

Natsuki smiled, contriving to look apologetic though she didn't feel at all sorry for sneaking out of the hospital, "I was actually just passing time so that I could catch the bus back to campus. ...Because of what happened at the First District, sleeping in a hospital when I'm not in a coma would probably be impossible for me." She struggled to see if she had any notion of how much time had passed since the beginning of their conversation and found that she really had no idea, "I probably missed the bus now though."

Miyu looked at Natsuki sympathetically, "I have a vehicle nearby. I can take you back to the school." Miyu then shifted her red eyes to the small cat who was now sleeping soundly in her lap, poking the cat in the side to wake her, "What about you? Should I be taking you with me too, or do you live here?" She asked the cat, as though she assumed it would be able to perfectly understand the content of her questions. To Natsuki's mild surprise the cat meowed indignantly at Miyu's suggestion and darted off down the alley, out of sight.

"Huh. I guess she does live here?"

"So it would seem." Miyu agreed her voice heavy with disappointment. "That is unfortunate, I found myself growing most intrigued with the idea of having a pet animal." The android shrugged, seeming to dismiss the notion for now. "My vehicle is only a block away. Are you feeling okay to walk that far?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Natsuki assured her, not wanting to look that weak. And besides, it was only a block. Miyu still studied Natsuki carefully for a few moments before nodding in agreement. "...Why were you here tonight anyway?"

"I was on my way to see Ojou-sama and yourself at the hospital." Miyu explained with a blush, standing swiftly and pushing her hat back on her head as though to hide her embarrassment. "I was just taking a few minutes to reduce the hostile nonhuman population first."

"Oh. Well I guess that's why I didn't see any vamps." The Slayer quipped, her voice still laced with disappointment despite her pain and fatigue. The two of them headed down the alley away from the hospital; turning down a branch that would intersect with a major street.

"You really do have a lot in common with my Ojou-sama. She always wants to keep fighting no matter how tired she is." Miyu said with a shake of her head, indicating a large black pickup truck that was blocking the entire alleyway a little ways ahead. "That's it."

Natsuki whistled, "Wow, that's so much nicer than Midori's car."

Miyu snorted with amusement, "I have seen Sugiura-sensei's vehicle. Your statement is no great compliment for my truck." Natsuki giggled as she climbed into the passenger side, wincing slightly as the action pulled at her stitches, though they felt a bit less painful than they had earlier despite her pain killers wearing off. Slamming the door shut she leaned heavily against the cool window as Miyu climbed in, the vehicle growling loudly to life as she turned her key in the ignition. "Go ahead and sleep until we get to the school, I will wake you when we reach our destination."

"Thanks Miyu." Natsuki said with a smile, surprised at how comfortable she felt around the android now. She still tried not to allow herself to fall asleep, gazing out the window at the city lights and all the small cars that they passed on their way, even this time of night the streets were still so busy. After ten minutes of driving however, her eyes finally started to close despite her best efforts. She wondered briefly as she drifted off whether Miyu would be her older or younger sister?

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

Natsuki sighed in relief as the elevator doors finally slid shut, leaning against the wall as the lift made its journey upwards, the pain in her sides and behind her eyes still throbbing uncomfortably. Even though she had only been awake for less than five hours in the past four days, somehow it felt like indeterminate eons had passed since the last time she had been in this dorm building, as if she were somehow out of sync with rate at which time passed here on Earth. The clock in Miyu's truck said it was nearly 1am when the android gently awoke her to let her know they had arrived. It was disorienting because although Natsuki was still exhausted, in some ways she felt like she had just woken up so she didn't really want to go back to sleep right away, especially since her mind just wouldn't let go of the dangerous notion of attempting the spirit walker trial as soon as she was healed a bit more. It seemed to be a mostly spiritual ceremony, but her recent experience with a mere dream capable of putting her in the hospital was enough to make even the normally impulsive and reckless Slayer a little cautious.

Natsuki wondered why she was so willing to risk everything for Alyssa. Really unless Midori's research was wrong, which in Natsuki's experience it rarely if ever was, she would be putting more than her life on the line to undergo this trial. She was risking her immortal soul being trapped in a hell dimension for all eternity, a fate so horrible that even with all of her experience fighting demons Natsuki was unable to truly grasp the implications. So perhaps it was naiveté, her inability to understand the true costs involved that made her think she could still save Alyssa, indeed the notion of not attempting to save the young girl was enough to make her feel nearly overcome with despair. But did she only feel this way now because Miyu told her that Alyssa was her sister, or would she undergo this challenge for anyone no matter the circumstances?

The elevator door dinged open, startling her out of her contemplation. Now that the end of her journey home from the hospital was in sight, Natsuki felt her fatigue falling away. She barely restrained herself from jogging down the long carpeted hallway, the lights cut to half brightness based on the perhaps overly optimistic assumption by the administration that at this time of night most students would be sleeping, lights shining out from under many of the doors she passed, and music drifting into the hallway was proof of just how wrong this reasoning was. When she reached her room however the lights were off and no sounds could be heard inside. Even though she knew that Mai went to bed earlier than most of the girls on their floor since her roommate had work in the afternoons and couldn't catch a nap then, she still was overwhelmed with panic in the moments before she opened the door as she worried that her witch had decided to sleep somewhere else tonight.

She entered her room cautiously, easing the door closed silently behind her. Her eyes adjusted quickly to the dark as she removed her boots, and she made no effort to suppress a joyful smile when she saw that her insecure fears had been unfounded. The orange haired witch was in Natsuki's bed, stretched out on her back on top of the covers and hugging the cuddly form of the plushie Duran close to her chest in a way that made Natsuki feel extremely jealous of her beloved stuffed animal. She stood there in the doorway watching her witch sleep for long moments; until her tenderness and genuine affection for Mai were able to balance out the nearly overwhelming lust and possessiveness she felt when she saw the witch in her bed. It was as though the primitive part of her saw Mai's actions and felt like they meant the witch belonged to her, that the witch must exist for no other reason than to please and comfort the Slayer.

Mai was sleeping fitfully, her hands twitching slightly and soft frightened whimpers escaping her lips. Again she was overcome with a combination of guilt and warmth, knowing without a doubt that Mai's frightful dreams were surely her fault. She couldn't help wondering if the people who cared about her might be better off in the long run if they didn't have Natsuki in their lives to cause them so much distress. But neither her guilt nor anger with herself for causing Mai's fear was strong enough to stop her from silently crossing the room and allowing the warmth and comfort of being close to someone who cared for her to chase away all of her own dark feelings.

After quickly changing into her pyjamas, she cautiously climbed onto the bed next to Mai, careful not to move too quickly and startle the witch awake. Instead she lay down next to the delightfully curvy girl, extracting Duran from her embrace and tossing him across the room onto Mai's bed. Her territory reclaimed from the impudent interloper, Natsuki gently wrapped her arms around the witch, effortlessly moving her so that her back was pressed tightly against Natsuki's front, a position that managed to both comfort the Slayer and make her feel powerful and in control of what belonged to her. Without thought her hands roamed, one caressing the girl's ribs just under the swell of a generous breast, growling softly at the feeling of the soft firm flesh and silky pyjamas resting on top of the still hyper sensitive bruised skin. Her other hand trailed down Mai's side, stroking over the soft curve of her hip and gripping tightly to pull the girl's perfectly rounded butt closer against her. Natsuki's eyes drifted closed as she took in the overwhelming sensation of Mai's soft body pressed up against her, nuzzling her face against the smooth warm skin of her witch's neck biting down gently on the muscle that sloped down toward her shoulder. A wicked grin came to her lips as the tone of Mai's whimpers quickly changed from frightened to pleasured, growing louder with each firmly possessive touch. _Hmm, mine._ She thought happily as the witch squirmed slightly against her teasing.

"Uuh... Natsuki...? Am I... dreaming?" Mai asked slowly, her voice slurred by sleepiness and the intense arousal that Natsuki's touches were stirring in her. Natsuki growled happily at how much power she had over this beautiful female that she reacted so passionately to her slightest touch, biting down more firmly on Mai's neck, causing the witch to cry out loudly in mixed pleasure and pain. "Grrr... Natsuki." She gasped, "I don't know... if I'm awake... having a wonderful dream... or a horrible nightmare that is about to leave me unspeakably frustrated... why are you... teasing me?"

Natsuki chuckled lowly as she loosened her grip on Mai, smiling appreciatively as the witch rolled over on her back to face her. The way her chest was heaving desperately for enough oxygen, and how flushed her skin was all from Natsuki's touch was enough to make her forget all of the pain she had been feeling earlier as well as her fears about the future. "You were in my bed weren't you? I thought that meant you wanted me to touch you."

Mai let out a noise that was somewhere between a tortured groan and an approving concurrence with Natsuki's statement. "How are you here though?" She insisted as she became more awake and coherent. "When I saw you this afternoon you could barely keep your eyes open for twenty minutes. Did you get checked out early or something?" She asked her pale eyebrows furrowed together in her confusion.

"Hmm... not exactly." Natsuki replied with a smirk, even as she ran a placating hand over Mai's stomach, "I just couldn't sleep any more until I touched you."

"Oh." Mai purred her eyes sliding half closed at Natsuki's soothing touch. "So you snuck out? Midori is going to be so pissed at you."

"Probably. You going to turn me in?" Natsuki asked as she again nuzzled her face into Mai's neck, placing a soft kiss on the artery she could see throbbing rhythmically just under the skin.

"No..." Mai whimpered.

"Mmm, that's what I thought. It seems you can be taught to obey me after all." Natsuki teased.

Mai laughed, "No, I just figure if you're well enough to be teasing me so much, you're probably okay to be out of the hospital... At least if you're just going to cuddle in bed with me and not be running all over the city beating up defenceless vampires."

"Hmm... well I was going to earlier, but it turns out that Miyu took over my job for me while I was unconscious." Natsuki half joked, hoping Mai wouldn't realize that she had actually planned to go slaying with who knows how many internal injuries.

"Grr. Remind me to thank Miyu the next time I see her, and to ask Shizuru to spank you for me as soon as you heal up a bit more." Mai said absently, her voice trailing off slightly as she drifted closer to sleep before shaking herself awake again, "Wait you saw Miyu? That's great that she's okay. I was so worried about her."

"Yeah, it turns out she's fine. She just had to try and throw the trolls she works for off her trail." Natsuki reassured her witch, running her fingers through Mai's soft orange hair, "...wait... did you say you would get Shizuru to... um..." Natsuki blushed hotly, unable to even say the words aloud at that humiliating yet strangely erotic notion. "Uh... what exactly did you two talk about while I was sleeping anyway?" Natsuki squeaked out, her voice suddenly much higher pitched than usual.

Mai just smirked though, "Wouldn't Natsuki like to know?" She teased, doing a scarily good impression of the older girl's lilting speech.

"...Oh God." Natsuki whimpered, wondering if she even wanted to know. If her brain could handle the information, even as a darker part of her got its hopes up at the possibilities, none of which were probably the case.

Mai giggled, obviously pleased with herself for turning the tables on Natsuki like that even if she had needed to invoke Shizuru to get the desired effect. She yawned broadly pouting as she fished for pity, "Ugh... Natsuki I'm so tired. I haven't been able to sleep without waking up constantly from nightmares since Wednesday."

Natsuki hugged the witch close in sympathy, "Even though I've done nothing but sleep the past few days, I'm pretty exhausted too. I'm only awake because I wanted to touch you." She smirked, wondering why she just couldn't seem to stop teasing Mai. "Go ahead and sleep. I'll keep your nightmares away." Natsuki promised, not mentioning that she was here to chase away her own bad dreams and memories. She still needed to tell Mai about the things Miyu told her and try and convince her witch to help her with the potentially deadly spirit walker trial, but she decided she would allow her girl at least one night of undisturbed rest. "I love you Mai, thanks for letting me stay."

"I love you too Natsuki." Mai replied sleepily but sincerely as she drifted back off to sleep, nightmares no longer haunting her.

Despite her own exhaustion, Natsuki lay awake for long hours watching her witch sleeping peacefully, her thoughts too crowded and disturbing to allow her any rest of her own. Still Mai's calm sleeping face, and the slight smile playing across her full lips as she dreamed of pleasant and happy things made Natsuki feel stronger; as though Mai's love for her was a physical thing slowly warming her and healing her wounds so that she would be strong enough to fight another day.


	18. Chapter 18

DISCLAIMER: For the readers this applies to, this chapter is a bit of a holiday gift. I'm not sure exactly what kindof pie it is... but it's definitely pie. Um... you all can decide for yourselves what kind exactly. And for everyone else who isn't celebrating a holiday this weekend, does there really need to be a holiday for us to enjoy pie? I am always thankful for everyone who continues to read and review this crazy fic of mine. I appreciate each and every one of you, even all of my dear lurkers. I hope everyone has a fun time stuffing themselves to unhealthy levels. ^^ (Also I think this eeks by with a T rating... but feel free to let me know if you disagree and I'll be sure to bump it up to the M rating next chance I get.)

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

St. Peter's HS; Tokyo, Japan: Monday April 30, 2000

Mai hummed quietly to herself as she finished tying her hair back in a short half-ponytail, blushing slightly as she studied her reflection in the bathroom mirror. It wasn't as though what she was wearing today was that much different from the school uniform she wore to classes every day, but the small customization she'd made to it was embarrassing even if she had decided on it herself. Instead of the regulation plain black necktie she had replaced it with one covered in large white wolf paw prints with the kanji 狼in blue. Only a few other people would get the significance, but she knew that she was wearing it to feel closer to Natsuki... though with how the Slayer had been showing her affection lately, wearing this felt more like a collar that said who she belonged to; a thought that made Mai shiver pleasantly even as she blushed harder. She didn't think that Natsuki would ever suggest she do something like this, but when she'd seen the wolf themed tie on her break the other afternoon, she just knew that the Slayer would love the idea.

Letting out a slight sigh, Mai headed back down the short hall and into the main room, intending to grab a jug of milk for breakfast. One of her friends in junior high always teased that her fondness for said beverage was what caused her breasts to have grown 'ridiculously huge'. At the time she'd been pretty embarrassed by them, since they got in the way of everything and seemed to make boys assume she would be easy. Getting her drink out of the small fridge she laughed softly as she gazed at the still sleeping Natsuki across the room, _The joke is on me though, since it turns out I am easy, I just hadn't met the right person yet._ For a moment Mai allowed herself to daydream about being a less responsible person, because if she was she certainly wouldn't be getting ready to head to class; she would be back in bed with that powerful and demanding creature that had the nerve to look like a beautiful and harmless teenage girl. Mai watched her sleeping soundly, enjoying the way the way the sun shone off of that long silky dark hair making it seem a liquid midnight blue. The colour reminded Mai of being back at home, in the summer she would take her long board out on the ocean at night and just float there staring up at the vast dark sky. The swell of the waves moving under her would always lull her dangerously close to sleep, the power of the ocean effortlessly holding her afloat and its calm lazy waves gently caressing her skin making her feel safe and cared for by the vast and immensely powerful force of nature. Being held by Natsuki made her feel just like that, the way her hands would gently touch using only a small amount of their strength; it was exciting and comforting, making her feel more alive than she'd ever felt.

Glancing over at the blinking green digital clock on the microwave, she smiled as she noticed she still had another fifteen minutes or so before she had to leave for class. Just enough time to wake Natsuki up for a few minutes and let her know the plan for today. Tossing the empty jug in the trash she walked across the small room to the sleeping Slayer, almost without thought using her magick to warm her hands so that her touch wouldn't be uncomfortable, having noticed by now how unexpectedly warm Natsuki's skin always was. She smirked as a bit of a wicked idea occurred to her. Sure, she could wake Natsuki up by gently touching her shoulder and saying her name, but the Slayer had been teasing Mai so much lately that the witch decided it was about time she got a bit of revenge. And besides, it's not like Natsuki wouldn't like it, she would just get a taste of what it was like to be left unspeakably frustrated when Mai had to leave to go to class. Of course Mai herself would probably end up frustrated as well, but Natsuki had been working her up so much lately that she was almost used to the feeling. It wasn't entirely unpleasant... even if it led to her spending a bit longer in the shower these days desperately trying to take the worst of the edge off.

Mai sat down carefully on the bed next to Natsuki who was curled up on her side facing away from her with her arms wrapped tightly around Mai's pillow; feeling warm inside because she knew that she was probably one of the few living creatures who could get this close to the sleeping girl without her startling awake. She could see the dark haired girl's small nostrils flare slightly and her lips curl up into a relaxed smile as though her subconscious brain had positively identified Mai's scent and incorporated her presence into more pleasant dreams. Mai reached out and rested her hand lightly on top of a bared thigh at the spot right at the end of Natsuki's short blue boxers, moaning slightly despite herself at the feel of the soft smooth skin so warm even with hers heated up magickally, and the hard powerful muscle that she could feel tensed just under the surface, even at rest ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.

She gently stroked her hand over the silky smooth skin, pushing up the cotton fabric so that she could touch higher, curling her hand around to the inside of Natsuki's thigh as much as her current position would allow. Mai felt her heart start beating faster and her face flush when Natsuki let out a quiet growl, turning toward Mai onto her back and spreading her legs wider apart to encourage more direct touching. Mai leaned in to murmur Natsuki's name into a flushed ear, even as she teased the beautiful girl and herself more, caressing up higher along Natsuki's inner thigh until she could feel the heat radiating off of her centre. She began to pull her hand away and sit up when she felt Natsuki starting to stir, but suddenly froze her movements when a strong hand reached up and grabbed a fist full of her hair and she saw completely coherent burning green eyes staring up at her. Mai felt her nipples harden painfully and her own centre becoming almost uncomfortably wet as she had a sudden vivid fantasy of Natsuki using her strength to force Mai's head down between her legs to make the witch pay for teasing her so mercilessly by demanding Mai pleasure her with her mouth for hours. Mai blushed, wondering what Natsuki would think of her if she knew the kinds of things Mai wanted the Slayer to do to her, even as her tongue flicked out involuntarily to moisten her lips at the thought. Natsuki's lips turned up in a knowing smile, and Mai blushed hotly when she realized that Natsuki could probably smell just how turned on she was from her own teasing.

Seemingly confident that she was now in charge of the situation, Natsuki slowly released Mai from her firm grip, allowing the witch to sit up completely instead of staying stuck in a fairly uncomfortable position. Natsuki however didn't bother sitting up, instead putting her arms behind her head to prop it up slightly, making the tops of her smaller but perfectly proportioned breasts more visible in her low cut tank top, and the strong muscles in her arms and the small amount of her stomach that was visible stand out. Mai tried to distract herself from the tempting sights by noticing with relief how the bruises that had been so prominent looking even just yesterday had faded so much overnight. "Good morning." She said shyly, blushing harder when Natsuki's grin widened as she finally returned her wandering eyes to the dark haired girl's face. "Um... I just wanted to let you know that I was getting ready to leave for class."

"Hmm." Natsuki acknowledged in a rough voice, not looking too panicked by the thought of missing class, correctly assuming that her injuries meant she wouldn't be going. "And you decided to try and tempt me into forcing you to spend your time here doing... other things... so that you wouldn't have to go?"

Mai felt her blush that had almost faded return in full force as Natsuki hinted aloud at fulfilling one of her fantasies, "...you tease me all the time, it's only fair I should be able to get back at you." She defended her actions, looking down shyly. Her heartbeat pounded louder in her ears when Natsuki reached up to gently run her fingers over the silky fabric of her necktie.

"Of course I do. Aren't you mine? To tease however much I want?" Natsuki asked, the tone of her voice not quite joking.

Mai looked up hesitantly from her study of her hands, Natsuki's still faintly burning green eyes watching her patiently, clearly expecting an answer to her demanding questions. "Yes." She acknowledged simply, a bit embarrassed by just how true that was, but not ashamed to let Natsuki know. It seemed like Natsuki needed frequent reassurances that she wouldn't be abandoned, and Mai wondered why it was that the Slayer was so willing to let Shizuru mostly go do her own thing this year. "You can touch me whenever you want..." She sighed sadly as she glanced back at the clock, "Well except right now, since I have to go to class." Mai giggled when Natsuki pouted slightly, "Oh! I called Midori right when I woke up to let her know that you were here, but she told me she already knew you would be. Anyway, she said that you should just stay here today and if you're feeling better you can go to classes again tomorrow. There's some leftover chicken and noodles from dinner last night in the fridge... you can have that for lunch if you want."

"Hmm. Sounds good, thanks Mai." Natsuki replied, her voice trailing off as her eyes drifted shut, her still healing body urging her to sleep again.

"Get plenty of rest." Mai murmured softly, kissing Natsuki's cheek, "Love you." She stayed for a few more moments, gently running her hand through Natsuki's long hair. When it could no longer be avoided she reluctantly stood, walking to her dresser to get a fresh pair of panties to change into before heading to class.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

It was late morning by the time Natsuki finally woke again, stretching lazily as she rolled over so that she could gaze out the large window, smiling with satisfaction at the sight that greeted her. Somehow watching of all of her fellow students rushing across campus to try and get to the lunch line before the good stuff ran out made her feel even more rested. She blinked in surprise when she realized that her intense stretching hadn't caused her any pain at all. Lifting up her shirt hesitantly she didn't know whether to feel relieved or apprehensive at the sight of her bruises almost completely healed, when even last night they had been causing her intense pain with only moderate activity. Still yawning despite feeling extremely well rested, Natsuki walked down the hall to the bathroom to start her morning rituals... though by now it was nearly afternoon. She also grabbed the first aid kit scissors so that she could remove the stitches still threaded through the gashes in her sides, after all there was no need to bother Yohko about them when she had plenty of experience doing this herself.

However once Natsuki finally got a good look at the worst of the gashes across her stomach, four of them just under her old scars on her ribs that were also stitched apparently having been reopened, she felt her blood running a few degrees colder. They were healed alright, but they were scarred just like the old wounds she'd gotten at the First District when they turned her into a Slayer. The scar tissue itself was an angry black, its texture rough and raised up. Her hands trembled as she used the small surgical scissors to cut the neatly tied stitches, nicking herself a few times in the process with her nauseatingly unsteady hands. Why should this cause her so much fear? Ever since she was five she had known that her body wasn't completely her own, it was just a weapon wielded buy forces she could never hope to understand. The Slayer took comfort in how powerful she was, but just under the surface there was always the vague notion that she didn't have any real power at all. Her fists tightened reflexively, and she wasn't surprised when she looked down to see that the surgical scissors had been reduced to an unrecognizable lump of bent metal.

After skilfully removing the rest of her stitches with the sharp blade of a small throwing knife, Natsuki found herself sitting on the kitchen counter while her lunch heated in the microwave. She tried to force her breathing to be slow and even, trying to dispel the tenseness in her muscles brought on by her body flooding her system with adrenaline in a futile attempt to fight something that she had no ability to even see. To calm the discomfort caused by the new unasked for changes to her body, she instead focused her contemplation on the mundane question of what she should do with her time today. Reluctantly she decided to at least pretend to get some school work done and check to see if any of her professors had posted any quizzes or assignments on the school's web database.

When the microwave announced with a beep that it had finished coaxing her food warmer with radiation, Natsuki eagerly removed the plate of food, scarfing it down so quickly that she hardly had time to appreciate Mai's always delicious cooking. At first she was surprised at how hungry she was... until she realized she didn't remember the last time she'd eaten real food. Looking mournfully at the empty plate for a moment, she jumped down from the counter and washed her dishes before grabbing a bottle of soda from the fridge and a bag of chips and reluctantly heading over to turn on her computer. When the operating system booted up, she opened her web browser and navigated it to the secure site the school used for graded assignments with a sigh, resisting the temptation to goof off playing Daggerfall instead.

Her wistful musings about her high hopes for Daggerfall's sequel were interrupted by the soft pinging of her instant messaging program that had automatically logged her in on startup. She blinked in surprise when she saw RedWiccan's distinctive avatar of Velma from Scooby-Doo. She glanced again at the clock, wondering if she had woken up later than she thought... usually RedWiccan wasn't on this time of day.

RedWiccan: Hiya wolfie.

OokamiDuran: Hey... you're on pretty early for you?

RedWiccan: Yeah... I had kindof a rough weekend...

Despite her own troubles Natsuki found herself worried for her online friend. _She apparently lives somewhere pretty dangerous too..._

OokamiDuran: Are you okay? Nothing Hellmouthy? :-\ *worried*

RedWiccan: Aaw, you're sweet. No... nothing serious like that. ...Though we certainly have some problems brewing. It's just a personal thing that probably shouldn't even be bothering me as much as it is.

OokamiDuran: Well, if it's bothering you it's probably important. ...Did you want to talk about it? I might not be able to give you much advice with your "grownup" problems, but sometimes just talking it out can help.

RedWiccan: Tch. That's me alright, all growed up. And I guess it is a bit of a "grownup" problem as you call it, but your advice did really help me last time.

OokamiDuran: Ooh... with your new girlfriend yah? Is she alright?

RedWiccan: Yeah... she's okay. Goddess, I'm so glad I have her right now. Though that's part of the problem... but it's not her fault at all! It's just that my friends, who I always thought I could count on... well they're apparently not taking my being gay as well as I thought they would.

OokamiDuran: Oh... that sucks. I really don't know what to say about that... I've been really lucky and no one has really said anything hurtful or anything at all to me about it.

RedWiccan: Wait... you're gay too?

OokamiDuran: Um. Yeah. Aren't I always talking about girls I like?

RedWiccan: ... ... You're a _girl_? How did I not know this?

OokamiDuran: LOL! You thought I was a guy? X-D

RedWiccan: Um... yeah... cause you're all "I'm really young" and always talking about girls all the time... I guess I just figured you were a young guy.

OokamiDuran: *checks inside shirt* Nope. I'm definitely a girl. You don't need a picture of them for proof? ;-)

RedWiccan: eep! Argh... Heh. My girlfriend is reading over my shoulder and laughing at how red I just turned at that. __**No**__ that won't be necessary. Lol... oi, can you imagine my laptop being confiscated because I have inappropriate pictures of underage girls on it? I can just see my friends' reactions to _that._ Lmao... haha... though picturing the look on my best friend's face when she comes to get me out of jail for that is really funny. Thanks girlie-wolfie.

OokamiDuran: Heh... no problem. And the trouble you'd be in would likely pale in comparison to the trouble I'd be in if either of the girls I like found out that I was doing that sort of thing with some hottie I met on the internet anyways.

RedWiccan: Girls... as in more than one? Tsk tsk... you are very naughty wolfie. *Blush* My girlfriend wants to know how you knew that I was hot?

OokamiDuran: Well, you're a witch aren't you? ^^ My recent experience has taught me that witches are hot.

RedWiccan: hehe... well my statistically insignificant sample size of two agrees with your findings.

Natsuki shook her head when she found her mind wandering, pondering the possibilities of three really hot witches... _Oh my God... what is wrong with me lately?_ It was bad enough that she was in love with two girls; she didn't need to be adding to her problems by having lusty fantasies about complete strangers. ...Even if college girls were undeniably hot.

OokamiDuran: ...I'm just going to put that information in my memory files to think about later, when I am alone. ^^ *Quickly changes the subject* What did your friends do exactly? Did they say mean things to you? If that's the case they'd better watch their asses because I'm going to take a quick trip over to the states to kick them for you. *grrr*

RedWiccan: hehe! Gosh... you're making me laugh about stuff that shouldn't even be funny. And you shouldn't be overconfident like that... my friend might be tiny, but she's a lot stronger than she looks.

OokamiDuran: Well so am I. :-P

RedWiccan: Hmm... alright then. How about you turn eighteen, and then I'll set up a mud wrestling contest with the two of you so we can test that?

OokamiDuran: Is she hot?

RedWiccan: ...I don't know if I should answer that with my girlfriend sitting right here. Eep, owwie... she just smacked me. : - ( ...But she says that Buffy is hot.

OokamiDuran: ...Buffy? Is that her porn star name?

RedWiccan: Lol! Nooo... omg. You are so bad wolfie. No, that's her name. Though I shouldn't have told you I guess.

OokamiDuran: *shrugs* America is a big place. I'm sure there are lots of Buffys who live there. ...even if most of them are dogs owned by little old ladies. So come on, tell me what they did so I can offer you the appropriate amount of pity.

RedWiccan: Aaw. Well... I don't know. I mean at first I thought she was wigging out a little, but then she seemed so cool with it. But I don't know... maybe after she thought about it more it grossed her out? I don't know... I just heard that she was talking about it behind my back.

OokamiDuran: Who did you hear that from? ...It's just you two always sounded so close whenever you've talked about her. Like sisters. I figured even if she had an issue with you being gay that it wouldn't change that. ...I mean I don't know the girl, but whenever you talk about her I feel like she and I have a lot in common. Aside from her liking men anyways. -.o

RedWiccan: Well... It was from an old... um... mutual acquaintance of ours. Just that they thought it was a phase... he said that she was defending me though. But I don't know. She did seem pretty wigged when I first told her.

Natsuki sighed to herself as she tried to think of what advice she could give when she thankfully had no experience with anyone freaking out about her being gay. She wasn't totally naive about the issue; she knew that she was beyond blessed to have an understanding guardian like Midori who wanted nothing more than Natsuki's happiness, and plenty of friends who were either incredibly open-minded or gay themselves. Mai could probably offer Red better insight, since she had more experience with people assuming that she liked boys... and what would their friends think if they knew that Mai was suddenly head over heels for Natsuki when until recently she had shown a great deal of interest in Tate? Would they think that Natsuki, a girl known for her aggression and impulsiveness, was somehow coercing Mai into being with her? Or would they God forbid, think that Mai was a slut? Natsuki felt a feral growl rising in her throat at the thought of anyone thinking such things about her witch. Sure Mai hadn't been at all shy about receiving affection from Natsuki or offering her own in return from the moment that Natsuki let her know that there could be something between the two of them, but Natsuki loved that about Mai.

But how would Shizuru react to Natsuki's feelings for Mai? She had all but admitted how desperate she was to keep the witch close to her at the hospital with Shizuru sitting right there. Shizuru hadn't said anything that made her certain that her oldest friend knew, but she had dropped plenty of subtle hints that Natsuki, who was used to Shizuru's endless teasing was quick to zero in on and then contemplate the potential significance of each word at length. But what if Shizuru had freaked out about it? How would Natsuki feel if faced with something even remotely resembling disapproval from her oldest friend?

OokamiDuran: That sounds difficult. -.-' Some people might not think it would be a big deal... but if my closest friend thought that my girl's feelings for me were a phase, I would be hurt. (No one would think that me being gay was a phase, since my guardian actually thought the idea of me liking boys was a pretty remote possibility when we talked about the subject... lol.) Still though... I think you have to take it in context. I mean, this person has been there for you through a lot hasn't she? And your other friends too? You all just sounded so close whenever you talk about them. I really think you should talk to her. Let her know how much her friendship means to you.

RedWiccan: ...That's what my girlfriend said I should do too. And you're right. All of us have been through so much together. It's just that this year we've just been drifting apart...

OokamiDuran: Your girlfriend sounds like she knows what she's talking about there Red; you should always listen to her. -.o And you just started university this year right? One of my oldest friends and I have hardly had time to talk much this year and we're only in senior high school, I can barely imagine how much more work you guys have.

RedWiccan: I don't know, my teachers have always tried to scare us with stories of how ridiculously difficult school in Japan is ;-). And yeah, you're right. I guess a lot of people lose touch with their friends from high school after they graduate...

OokamiDuran: Well, make sure that doesn't happen! The only way you can do that is to talk to them. Like plan some sort of regular get together thing or something... That's what me and my best friend from primary school have been trying, and it's seemed to work well enough. I still miss her though...

RedWiccan: Alright. Yeah that sounds like a good idea. ...If I can get them to talk to me I'll try and bring it up. -.- It's just so difficult when Buffy gets into her "I'm the only one, no one can really help me" mode, it's hard to reach her.

OokamiDuran: "Only one" ? ...that sounds so scarily familiar to me that it's starting to freak me out.

RedWiccan: ...I'm pretty sure there's only one Buffy. Well... there were a couple who've tried to be imitations, but I don't think anyone else could pull off her "I'm better than you" vibe that she gets sometimes.

Natsuki felt her heart beating faster when she read those words. There was something there... This "Buffy"... the way she was acting seemed so much like how Natsuki herself acted when her friends or Midori tried too hard to offer help with something slaying related. What were the chances that Red was friends with the real Slayer? Red did say that she lived on an active Hellmouth... There was every possibility that Buffy was just pushing her friends away to try and protect them from her life. But was it Natsuki's place to try and second guess the decisions of a Slayer she didn't know? ...What would Mai say? She would probably want Natsuki to hear that she was just acting like a Slayer and that no matter how tough Natsuki acted she needed her friends.

OokamiDuran: Okay. You're going to wonder how I know your friend that I've never met so well... but I can't really explain that to you. All I can say is that her actions sound really familiar to me. Is she by chance the person who is usually leading your fights against the evil undead and demon-types?

RedWiccan: ...She is. How did you-?

OokamiDuran: Like I said, I can't tell you that. But listen. Girls like us... we worry about our friends who we don't think are as strong as us physically. I know; it sounds horribly presumptuous for us to just try and keep you out of the way where you won't get hurt... but trust me Red, she needs you. I know my witch would be so shocked to hear me say that, but I mean it. She can't do this completely alone. Don't let her get away with it.

RedWiccan: Wait... how did you know that she's superstrong?

OokamiDuran: *rolls eyes* Because you told me? You said that I shouldn't be confident that I could kick her ass, but you know that I'm a werewolf. We're not wimps.

RedWiccan: ...Yeah near the full moon I guess...

OokamiDuran: You know I'm not that kind of werewolf. But basically you told me just then that your friend isn't exactly a normal human... but Red, both me and your friend, we might not be human the same way you are, but we still make mistakes. We say things we don't mean or keep our friends at a distance to protect ourselves from getting hurt... We act tough, but we need people who care about us more than anyone. Don't let her get away with it. She needs you, and everyone else needs for her to be at her best don't they?

RedWiccan: ...You're right wolfie. Thank you. I'll let her cool off a bit, but I'll make sure I talk to her. My girlfriend says thank you too, she was getting sick of me being all mopey. ...Is there anything I can help you with? You've been so great.

OokamiDuran: Yeah actually... I needed to track down a certain Minoan spiritwalker trial.

Natsuki felt her palms start to sweat as she typed those words. She must be truly crazy to be considering this, and after she just gave someone such objective insight into Slayer-psychology too. Yep, it was impossible for a Slayer to go it completely alone, but here she was trying to get information on how to go into a very dangerous situation completely alone.

RedWiccan: Um... I don't know about that, but my girlfriend says she knows the trial you're talking about... so I'm going to give her the keyboard for a bit alright?

OokamiDuran: Hehe, sure if you don't mind me trying to charm her away from you.

RedWiccan: Pfft. You wish little wolfie. :-P But she's mine. Alright, talk to you in a bit!

RedWiccan: ...Hey. I'm not too good with computers, so bear with me alright?

OokamiDuran: No problem. I'm impressed that you would know about such an obscure spell.

RedWiccan: My mother... she left me her Book of Shadows. It has the spiritwalker trial in it. I remember because when we were learning magicks together she told me that it is a very dangerous spell.

OokamiDuran: I know. Trust me; I wouldn't try something this crazy without a good reason. I just found out this week that I have a sister, and the spiritwalker trial might be the only way to save her.

RedWiccan: Oh Goddess. Is she okay?

OokamiDuran: I don't know. :'(

RedWiccan: Well I just told 'Red' to go get my Book of Shadows. I'll give you the ritual, but promise me that you'll be as careful as you can be. Do you have someone who can anchor you?

OokamiDuran: Yes. ...Well I haven't talked her into it yet, but she'll do it.

RedWiccan: This will be dangerous for her too. If you failed she could get pulled between dimensions with you.

OokamiDuran: I... I don't want to think about failing. I don't want to put her in danger. But I can't just let my little sister die, and I can't think of anything else that we could do.

RedWiccan: Ssh sweetie, it's okay. I just wanted to make sure you knew all the risks. You're very brave to want to help your little sister. I know I would help 'Red' if she asked me to do this for her best friend too. Oh! Red also told me that she needs to give you that updated file. She managed to change the um... algorithm I think?

OokamiDuran: ! Tell Red that she's a goddess for me. I needed that file.

RedWiccan: Hmm... sure thing sweetie. I'll give Red a reward for you when I log off. ;-)

OokamiDuran: ...*drools* um... thanks. Wow, I wish I could be there for that.

RedWiccan: haha, I'm sure you do. I know I'm glad I'll get to be here.

Natsuki blushed hotly. _Oh my God, why is it that every girl I know is a freaking tease these days?_ She grinned with satisfaction as she clicked accept on the file transfer, plugging in Miyu's chip into her USB-port. _I hope this works._ The file transferred quickly, and within moments she was attempting to load it into Miyu's chip, clicking that yes she did want to replace the file of the same name already on it. To her great surprise the chip didn't have any encryption preventing her from replacing the file on it, and her computer notified her that the overwrite was taking place and for her not to do something stupid like removing the chip from the USB-port mid-transfer or it would be angry.

OokamiDuran: W00T! Let Red know that it is overwriting the old one now. ^^ She is a wiz.

RedWiccan: *Laughs* She says she knows she's a wiz. She needed the confidence boost too because now she has an even more difficult computer-type thing that she needs to crack for her friend. Between you and me I don't know the first thing about that 'code' stuff.

OokamiDuran: Heck, me either. I like math and most of that stuff gives me a headache. . ...mostly because my attention span doesn't allow me to be really accurate unless it's required for an in-class test or something.

RedWiccan: Okay... she has the book. I'm going to find it for her and then she's going to use the scanner thing that she has to upload the pages. She says that the quality might not be that great because the pages are old, but she's going to use a program to up the contrast so it should be easy enough to read. ...It will probably take a few minutes.

OokamiDuran: No problem. I'm actually online in the first place because I was going to try and catch up on my school work.

RedWiccan: Oh I see. Were you sick sweetie?

OokamiDuran: ...Sortof... um... I got kindof magickally beat up by something last week and ended up in the hospital. I'm all better now though.

RedWiccan: *Grabs keyboard back* The hospital? Frilly heck, you really are like Buffy. You need to be more careful!

OokamiDuran: Trust me, if I could afford to be more careful I would be. But the bad guys don't rest you know? So I can't either.

RedWiccan: ...*sighs* Yeah I know. Anyway you go ahead and get to work on your homework! I won't be responsible for bad grades, no sir. :-P I'll send you the file with the spell on it as soon as I've finished uploading it.

OokamiDuran: Thank you so much Red. I'll be sure to log on as soon as I can after I do the spell to let you know that I'm okay too.

RedWiccan: No problem girlie-wolfie. I'm glad to help someone who can appreciate how much of a wiz I am with the computers.

Natsuki sighed as she forced herself to concentrate on checking for graded assignments, deciding to start with a quiz in Midori's class. It was so jarring sometimes, going from worrying about life or death situations to worrying about the internal economic and political problems in Japan hundreds of years ago or indeed even her favourite subjects like microbiology or chemistry. But even with things as varied and important to draw Natsuki's attention as her plan to risk her life to save a girl she barely knew, or her general dislike of getting bad grades; neither could completely distract her thoughts from wondering whether RedWiccan's friend was the real Slayer. Duran had finally dissuaded her from worrying that she wasn't as strong as the Slayers from the original line, but she still thought there must be something special about a girl who was truly Chosen by the Powers That Be, whereas Natsuki herself was more just 'allowed'. She wondered if Midori still had any contacts in the Council who could confirm whether or not the Slayer's name was 'Buffy', after all that seemed like a distinctive enough name to make a coincidence pretty unlikely. Natsuki snorted with amusement, if Buffy was anything like her it would probably be best if they didn't meet, after all if Buffy reacted like she did to outsiders in her territory it might prove impossible for them to even be civil let alone friends. But even if they never met, Natsuki thought it would be a comfort to know the identity of possibly the one other person in the whole world who could know what she was going through.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

Mai was trudging across campus to the bus stop after a long day of classes, feeling even more exhausted as she thought about working at the diner for a couple of hours this afternoon. At least her classes seemed to go by faster today, since she was concentrating extra hard on the lessons so she could take really good notes to give to Natsuki; but she wasn't also worrying about the girl being unconscious, and when she would be able to finally go see her in the hospital. Today was the first day that she was going back to her part-time job since Wednesday, but luckily her boss had been really understanding when she'd called him in a panic on Thursday saying there was just no way she could go while her roommate was still in a coma. She suspected that part of his willingness to let her get away with it had to do with how good she looked in the skimpy uniforms the waitresses who worked at his diner were required to wear, but for once she just allowed herself to be grateful that for whatever reason she was able to spend more time watching over Natsuki.

She was walking down the cement path towards two of the largest trees on campus; the huge old trees that grew in front of the building where the Student Council and several of the other clubs focused on humanities subjects met gave the fairly new campus a sense of history that it hadn't really earned. Mai's steps faltered when she felt a faint strange but familiar disruption in her magickal senses. She had been working hard on getting more in tune with them this past week, her experience at the monastery and then later this week with Natsuki's mysterious injuries impressing on her the importance of learning to understand this extra sense that she had to observe the world around her. She felt her heart speeding up as she looked around to find the source of the strange feeling, all the while trying not to be obvious about it, but was distracted away from her search when she noticed Shizuru heading down an intersecting path in her direction on her way to the Student Council building, while at the same time the sensation of strange magick faded away.

Mai found herself smiling and a nervous anticipation take hold as she observed the gorgeous brunette, slowing her own pace so that she would reach the intersection at around the same time as Shizuru, a vague notion forming in her mind. Mai didn't know what exactly to make of the strange new friendship of sorts that she was forming with Shizuru. In junior high school she had lost her closest friend when a boy that the other girl had liked confessed his feelings for Mai instead. Mai had on principle refused to consider dating him since she didn't want to hurt her friend's feelings, but her friend felt betrayed anyway. But she and Shizuru had been essentially strangers, apparently in competition for the same girl, and yet they were still managing to form a friendship that was oddly enough based on their mutual affection for Natsuki.

She had surprised herself last Wednesday, when in the height of in her panic after she had called the ambulance to take the badly injured Natsuki to the hospital and then Midori to let her know what had happened, the first thing she thought of was that she needed to call Shizuru. Until that evening she'd barely even spoken to Shizuru, but Mai still knew enough about the aloof and mysterious girl to know that she cared about Natsuki more than anything. They had ridden to the hospital together in a huge car driven by someone who worked for Shizuru's dad and then she'd sat in the hospital waiting room next to the other girl for hours; Midori was in the back in the break room waiting for Yohko to get out of surgery. That night they hardly spoke a word as they waited tensely for someone to come tell them that Natsuki was going to be okay, but once Natsuki's condition was stabilized over the next few days they slowly got to know each other better.

At first Mai found it difficult to get Shizuru to open up to her, she would ask about school or Student Council or any other basic thing she could think of to get to know this person who was so important to Natsuki a little better, but Shizuru would always rebuff her efforts with an overly polite response. Mai though wasn't one to give up easily, especially since she knew that there was more to Shizuru than the aloof girl would show her; Mai could see the barely contained intense emotions that would swirl in her uncanny red eyes as she studied the sleeping Natsuki. Then it finally occurred to her what she needed to do, she asked Shizuru how she met Natsuki. Suddenly the carefully maintained mask fell away, and Mai found herself breathless at the sight of a nostalgic smile that reached Shizuru's eyes, making them shine with warmth and affection; she knew without a doubt that Shizuru loved Natsuki. She didn't know what to think when Shizuru constantly referring to Natsuki as 'hers' didn't make Mai horribly jealous... it just seemed so natural that Natsuki would hold that place in Shizuru's life. Mai had been apprehensive about telling Shizuru about her and Natsuki's slowly developing relationship, since she thought that it should be Natsuki's decision to decide how to tell her best friend if indeed she wanted to at all; but after Mai finally got her to open up, Shizuru kept making teasing comments that made her certain that the gorgeous young woman knew something.

"Shizuru-san!" She called out as they approached closer, greeting her with a wave and a friendly smile.

"Hello Mai-san, how are you this afternoon?" Shizuru greeted politely, still somewhat reserved around Mai at first.

"Um... well I was just heading to my part-time. I know you're probably really busy, but could you do me a huge favour and drop Natsuki's school work off for her? She's out of the hospital and back on campus, but Midori still wanted her to stay in the dorm and rest today instead of going to classes right away." Mai explained, finding herself genuinely hopeful that Shizuru would agree.

"Mai-san wishes for me to take this to Natsuki... because she cannot be there herself?" Shizuru questioned her smooth tones both confused and slightly suspicious.

Mai shrugged hopelessly, blushing slightly since she wasn't sure how to explain herself, "I just... I think that she misses you."

"I see..." Shizuru replied studying Mai thoughtfully, smirking faintly when Mai blushed harder under her intense gaze, "Mai-san is a very obedient pet for my Natsuki, that she would be so willing to do anything to make her happier."

"...I'm not..." Mai stuttered, trying for a moment to object to that characterization. _But if you're really not, why are you so willing to let her spend time alone with someone you suspect that she loves more than she loves you?_ Her mind taunted her. She growled softly, meeting those teasing red eyes with her own and speaking without shame, even if she continued to blush slightly, "Alright. Maybe that is all I am to her... but like you said; I still want her to be happy. Wouldn't you do anything to make her happier too?" She challenged. After all, why would Shizuru be spending so much time away from Natsuki? Didn't Natsuki mean everything to her?

The witch was surprised when Shizuru dropped her eyes to study the ground sadly, their colour fading to a rusty brown as she replied cryptically, "Yes. ...Even if it's the most difficult thing for me. I suppose I am in the same boat as Mai-san after all."

"Shizuru-san..." Mai said softly, hesitantly moving closer the clearly distraught older girl, the part of her that always wanted to comfort others effortlessly drawn to the intensely repressed but potent emotions, "Look, I know you're keeping your distance for a reason..." She spoke in a soothing voice, freezing with her hand resting softly on Shizuru's arm when red eyes suddenly rose studying her with a ruthlessness she hadn't expected. Her heart beat faster and she could feel some strange force none to gently probing her magickal defences. _Oh gods... it's her?_

"What do you know?" Shizuru asked harshly, gripping Mai's wrist to prevent her from backing away.

"I... nothing Shizuru-san, I swear." Mai pleaded, feeling the skin on her arm already bruising under Shizuru's hard touch, "It's just... I couldn't imagine you staying away from Natsuki if there wasn't a reason. That's all."

Shizuru immediately released her punishing grip, rubbing her hand in a soothing motion over that spot, her touch almost affectionate in a way that made Mai's already confused mind spin further, "I am sorry Mai-san... there are just things that no one can know."

"Can I help you?" Mai asked automatically, ignoring the few students staring at them curiously as they walked past them, since Shizuru was well-known enough that her intense attention to this first year was intriguing to most of them.

Shizuru shrugged, seeming to contemplate what exactly she could say in reply, "I... it is not that I require help Mai-san. There are... things that I need to do." She sighed, her frustration with being unable to explain better clear to the witch, "Believe me when I say that there is nothing more important to me than my Natsuki, but there are things that I must do, whether I wish to or not."

"I didn't mean to pry Shizuru-san." Mai said by way of apology, but still looked up at her shyly an entreating look in her blue eyes. "But... could you still take this to Natsuki?" She pleaded again, holding out her backpack.

Shizuru smiled faintly, her fingers brushing over Mai's as she took the pack from her hand. "Very well, but only since Mai-san is so desperate for me to do so; and I find myself quite unable to resist her heartfelt request."

Mai found herself backing off slightly and actually offering Shizuru a small formal bow in thanks. "Thank you so much Shizuru-san." She then glanced hesitantly at her watch, her eyes widening as she saw how much time had passed, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry but I really have to hurry if I'm not going to be late for work. Thanks again though, I know Natsuki will be so happy to see you." She said with a blush, before turning and jogging off down the path to the bus stop; all the while wondering just what exactly she had been trying to accomplish just then and shivering slightly at the intense burning stare she could feel on her back, wondering exactly what made the mysterious girl so powerful.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

It was late afternoon by the time Natsuki was finally printing out the text of the spiritwalker trial that Red had sent her, impressed with the quality of the images Red managed to get out of the scanned pages. She knew from experience that it would take a great deal of editing skill to get the contrast so crisp, especially when the original document was old and faded. She paused in grabbing the papers from the printer tray when she heard a soft knock at the door, wondering if it was one of the girls from down the hall wanting to ask Mai for something. It was strange but no one ever came by to ask Natsuki for anything, she wasn't sure if it was because something about her seemed unapproachable, or if Mai's friendly vibes just worked on everyone else as well as they'd worked on Natsuki.

When she opened the door it was as if time stopped for long moments as she gazed at Shizuru standing casually in the hallway holding Mai's backpack in her hands, a small smile playing over her full pale lips as she watched Natsuki's dumbfounded reaction with some amusement. "S-Shizuru! Uh... why are you... I mean um..." Natsuki finally clamped her mouth shut to halt the flow of nonsensical words caused by her utter surprise at seeing Shizuru here. This was the first time since school had started that her best friend had visited her dorm room. Finally Natsuki stepped aside gesturing that Shizuru could come in, long habit preventing her from offering even the girl who was her first love a verbal invitation into her room.

Shizuru's smile took on that hint of sadness that she often got, her eyes watching Natsuki with a wistful longing that made the Slayer feel that Shizuru was somehow untouchably far away even though she was standing right in front of her. As though sensing Natsuki's unrest Shizuru slowly reached out her hand to Natsuki, crossing the threshold of the room with deliberate grace and taking Natsuki's hand in hers, effortlessly pulling the still shell-shocked Slayer into a tender hug. "Natsuki."

As soon as Shizuru's arms wrapped around her Natsuki raised her own to return the hug with what must have been an uncomfortable amount of force. She lifted a now giggling Shizuru off of the ground and kissing her cheek, nuzzling her nose against the soft skin of Shizuru's neck to breath in the familiar scent of vanilla and a unique almost cinnamon quality that if she could taste it would burn pleasantly just like Shizuru's teasing. "I can't believe you're really here." She murmured, gently placing Shizuru back on her feet and taking a hesitant step away so that she could look into Shizuru's smiling rusty eyes, never letting go of Shizuru's hand in hers.

"Natsuki certainly is feeling much better today." Shizuru replied happily, apparently taking no notice of Natsuki's amazement just to see her, though the brunette did blush slightly when she glanced down to study her hand still being held in Natsuki's their fingers intertwined. "Yesterday she could barely hold her eyes open, but today she is holding me in her arms like I weigh nothing at all." She teased lightly.

"Shizuru, it's not like you weigh anything anyways." Natsuki scoffed at the notion that being able to lift Shizuru was any indication of her return to full strength but still shrugged, unsure if she should worry her friend with what really happened with her wounds or not. "...I guess I just felt a lot better after spending the night in my own bed."

Now Shizuru smirked openly at Natsuki, who watched her with a bit of confusion until her eyes came to rest on Mai's backpack that Shizuru was holding out for her. She reached out to take the denim backpack with whimsical black and white kittens stitched on it from Shizuru's hand, noting the way the clear nail polish on her short but elegantly shaped nails made them shine. "I'm sure that my Natsuki found her own bed much more... comfortable than the one at the hospital." Shizuru moved closer, raising her hand to caress Natsuki's cheek as she often did, smiling as bright green eyes drifted closed contentedly, leaning in to speak quietly in a lightly flushed ear, "And my Natsuki is very naughty to make her pet wear a collar in public like she did today. Though her pet is very thoughtful; I found myself quite unable to resist her heartfelt request that I visit her owner to bring her missed schoolwork."

Natsuki blushed hotly at Shizuru's implications, but she opened her eyes to study her best friend seriously, leaning into the pleasant touch even as she eyed Shizuru defiantly, "Mai isn't a pet."

Shizuru trailed her long fingers down the lightly tanned skin of Natsuki's neck, her touch lingering on the hot point where the Slayer's blood was pumping powerfully under her skin. "Is that so? Although if Mai-san did not truly view herself as Natsuki's pet; I could not imagine her wearing something in public that all but has 'property of Natsuki' stamped on it."

Natsuki lifted her chin to allow Shizuru to more easily caress the sensitive flesh of her pulse point, a place on her body that in her line of work was jealously guarded from the touch of others. She loved it when Mai touched her there too, but when Shizuru did it she often found herself fantasizing about the red eyed beauty's canine's growing longer, a beastly but still beautiful demonic visage transforming her face as Natsuki allowed Shizuru to drink in her powerful Slayer blood. She could just imagine Shizuru shaking with pleasure at the intensity of it. It was a horrible thought because she would never want that for Shizuru, but it still haunted her darkest fantasies. Natsuki didn't allow the pleasant touch or the now almost hungry look in blood red eyes to distract her too much though, "Mai might think of herself as belonging to me, but I would never think of her as my pet." She reaffirmed, "You always call me yours, but you think of me as more than that."

Natsuki felt slightly hurt when her defence of Mai seemed to cause Shizuru to stop her touches and take a sudden and deliberate step back from Natsuki, walking over to the large window to gaze out at the campus now lit with the harsher light of the slowly setting sun, painting her body with a golden hue that made her seem to Natsuki like a statue of an ancient goddess out of one of Midori's ancient Mediterranean history books. "Does it bother you?" She questioned hesitantly, "That I care for her?"

The tawny brunette seemed to square her shoulders, turning slowly to face Natsuki. Her face was shrouded in shadow, backlit as it was by the bright late afternoon sunset, though the warmth of her eyes still shone brightly enough for Natsuki to see them and wonder if she was imagining the turmoil swirling in their depths. "It should not bother me, since I have requested that Natsuki allow me some distance from her. I cannot at once expect Natsuki to let me go and yet hold me closer than any other at the same time."

"Shizuru... no matter what, you know that you mean so much to me, don't you?" Natsuki asked, hesitantly approaching her best friend whose posture seemed defensive, almost fearful. "I didn't go looking for these feelings I have for Mai, but I won't deny them now that they're here. The stability and strength she gives me... Shizuru I need them in my life." She explained slowly, careful to not apologize for her feelings for Mai even as she was trying to offer Shizuru some comfort or hope, reaching out to carefully touch the back of Shizuru's hand where it lay gripping the windowsill tightly. "But I need you in my life too. I've missed you so much." She gently coaxed long fingers out of their tight grip, holding Shizuru's hand loosely in her own, "No matter what Mai is to me, she can never be you."

Shizuru sighed faintly looking to the side guiltily, even as she seemed to enjoy Natsuki's attention. "I apologize for saying such unfair things to Natsuki. Especially when I am certain that I cannot offer her too much more of my time for the foreseeable future."

"I don't understand." Natsuki admitted. The last time they'd spoken about this, Shizuru had been asking for time to settle her emotions over losing her mother and make some new friends. Now it seemed like there was something more to the story.

Shizuru shook her head sadly, "I wish I could tell Natsuki, but it is never clear enough to make sense of when I am awake. The answers only come clearly in my dreams."

Natsuki gasped, "Y-you... you're a seer. Like your mother was."

Shizuru again shook her head, "No, not like my mother. She always remembered her dreams of the future clearly upon waking; I am left with nothing but vague notions and strong impulsions which I fear I must follow."

"I never knew." Natsuki replied, her voice full of guilt and wonder that there could be something so essential about her best friend that she was completely unaware of.

Shizuru just smiled apologetically, bringing up her free hand to run her fingers along the strong but still petite line of Natsuki's jaw, "Natsuki never wondered why I was so content to let her keep secrets of her own for all those years?"

"...I-"

"Ssh." Shizuru soothed, placing her fingers over Natsuki's lips to forestall the forthcoming clumsy and in her opinion, unnecessary apology, "If my Natsuki suspected nothing, it is because I wished it that way. I had no inclination to burden you with my dark dreams."

Natsuki reached up to grasp Shizuru's hand, kissing the fingers resting on her lips gently before drawing them away, "But Shizuru, it caused your mother so much pain. You know I would have wanted to help you..."

Shizuru smiled, "Natsuki should know that I am not my mother." Shizuru's eyes darkened as she continued, "My mother... she trusted nothing but her dreams of the future. She believed her dreams to be the unchangeable and literal path that her life and the lives of others would take..."

"And you?"

"...I believe that my dreams are true... but I know there is more in this world than my dreams allow me to see." Shizuru gently tugged on Natsuki's hand in hers, drawing the dark haired Slayer closer so that she could feel her comforting warmth on her suddenly cold skin. "I might fear the dark as she did, but I know that Natsuki would never give up on me. And I trust Natsuki more than I trust the inevitability of my future."

Natsuki wrapped her arms gently around Shizuru's shoulders, her friend suddenly feeling so small and fragile in her embrace despite being slightly taller and curvier than Natsuki herself. Her blood seemed to run both warm and cold at Shizuru's declaration of trust in her, Shizuru's belief making her feel stronger but the lingering doubt over whether the spiritwalker trial was the right thing to do hanging heavily over her. "Shizuru..." Natsuki murmured into soft, burnished gold hair, "You know I would never give up on you. No matter what happens, I'd find a way to save you." She promised, even as her heart twisted with guilt over the things she wasn't telling Shizuru about.

Shizuru returned the hug weakly, as though her admission had cost most of her energy, "My Natsuki's willingness to do anything for those she loves has always been something that I admire about her. I would never hold that against her." Shizuru reassured her addressing even the thoughts that Natsuki left unspoken, causing Natsuki to stop suddenly in her caresses of Shizuru's back.

"How did you-?"

"I suppose my usual reply that I simply know my Natsuki so well would be less convincing at this point?" Shizuru asked with forced innocence, laughing softly when Natsuki simply growled in reply. "I wish I could explain Natsuki... but I do not completely understand it myself. It is just... sometimes Natsuki speaks to me even when she is not saying the words aloud."

"Only me?" Natsuki asked.

"...I thought it was only Natsuki." Shizuru replied with confusion, "But I heard some things from Mai-san today as well... it was most unexpected."

"From Mai? ...um... what did you hear?" Natsuki asked hesitantly, not wanting to sound too interested when Shizuru had seemed to take their tentative relationship badly earlier, but to Natsuki's surprise Shizuru actually giggled slightly.

"Nothing much really, but she seemed to just be reinforcing how much she wanted me to come see you... and also that she thinks I'm 'gorgeous'." Shizuru giggled again as she said the word.

"Well, she's not wrong." Natsuki smiled, "I have been missing you... and anyone would agree that you're gorgeous." Natsuki leaned her forehead against Shizuru's, sighing happily now that she was almost breathing the same air as her friend and speaking softly and wistfully, "I wish that we could be closer now."

"Me too Natsuki..." Shizuru apologized, blushing slightly as she studied Natsuki's intense green eyes at such close range, the sunlight on them making them seem darker somehow. "But just like Natsuki must sometimes risk everything to save someone she doesn't know... there are things that I feel I must do as well. Even though I do not understand them..." Her voice softened further as she ran her thumb over Natsuki's bottom lip, leaning in closer, "Even when this pursuit of a dream keeps me from the one I love the most."

"Shizuru..." Natsuki rasped out, in awe of how beautiful her friend was, how right this felt. "What do you mean...?"

"Ssh." Shizuru again quieted Natsuki's questions, "Natsuki will understand when I do... but for now... she should simply know..." Her melodious tones trailed off as she drifted ever closer, until she was gently caressing Natsuki's lightly quivering lips with her own, her eyes closing as Natsuki's arms tightening around her and the hesitantly and shyly returned kiss made her certain that this wasn't just another dream.

Natsuki felt all of her thoughts stop as Shizuru's silky smooth lips moved against hers, gentle and careful, as though Shizuru was afraid that Natsuki could disappear if she moved to deepen their kiss. For a moment Natsuki allowed herself to enjoy the innocent, almost chaste touch of their lips sliding over each other, her eyes closed at the intense new feelings. She revelled in the way Shizuru's position perched on the windowsill caused her to have to tilt her head up slightly to meet Natsuki's lips, and the feeling of Shizuru's soft but yet still toned body in her arms. When Shizuru's warm slightly rough tongue hesitantly caressed Nastuki's bottom lip, the younger girl couldn't contain her whimper of pleasure, parting her lips to allow Shizuru to deepen the kiss, wanting to feel Shizuru possessing her even if only for these few moments.

Shizuru's tongue slid smoothly into Natsuki's willing mouth, softly stroking over a sharp canine, and Natsuki moaned as she tasted the sharp tang of Shizuru's blood on her tongue as the older girl caressed it possessively with own. Shizuru's hand trailed up to tangle in Natsuki's hair, holding her closer as they continued to kiss passionately, their years of affection for each other being poured into the caressing and tasting of each other so intimately for the first time. Natsuki felt like only moments had passed when she finally pulled back slightly, her face flushed and gasping for air, but she blinked in surprise when she noticed that the sun had set and it was full dark outside. How long had they been here, with Shizuru leaning against the huge window, kissing passionately like their lives depended on it. Shizuru was also breathing heavily and blushing, but her own eyes were darkened with not only passion, but guilt. "I... I should not have done that."

"Shizuru! Don't say that..." Natsuki pleaded, "Please don't apologize..."

"...But I can't stay." She said mournfully, even as she leaned in to once more gently brush her lips over Natsuki's, smiling despite herself when Natsuki moved to try and deepen the kiss almost before she could pull back. "Ssh... I'm so sorry."

"It...It's fine...Shizuru. If you can't stay I mean, or if it's not the right time. But don't apologize." Natsuki said roughly, "...I can wait, but if you need me, I'm here for you."

"My Natsuki is so good to me." Red eyes were misty with tears, not wanting to give in to what she needed to do. "I wish things could be different."

"Me too... I wish you could tell me what was going on with you." Natsuki replied, her voice equally soft, "I want to be able to help you."

Shizuru just shook her head, "Natsuki has too many things to worry about already... and I will be careful. I know that my Natsuki will be able to help me when it is time, I believe in her." She gazed out sadly at the night sky, "...I should return to my dorm. There are things I must do... and Natsuki's pet should be home shortly. Natsuki will need all the time she can get to convince that one to allow her to risk herself so carelessly." Shizuru smiled slightly as she spoke the last words, almost as if she thought that the notion of Natsuki meeting anything she couldn't defeat was ridiculous. The Slayer found her confidence that had been flagging since she noticed her magickally healed wounds this morning returning in force. Even as she walked Shizuru to the door, blushing fiercely as they kissed each other goodnight, Natsuki felt herself becoming almost restless in her eagerness to hurry up and jump into her reckless plan head first. After all, Shizuru believed in her and she could think of no demon on Earth or in the many hells with the strength to stand against such a force.

_You make me real._

_Strong as I feel._

_You make me real._


	19. Chapter 19

DISCLAIMER: Sorry for the slower updates lately, I have found myself running into a slight case of the 'wtf it's winter already' blues. :-( But all of your lovely kind reviews have bolstered my flagging spirits, so I have a short update for you all today. ^^ Thanks so much to everyone who still enjoys reading this story, I certainly would not have gotten so far with it without you.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

It had barely been thirty minutes since Shizuru left, but Natsuki was already pacing back and forth, her restored health and confidence giving her a burst of restless energy that she hadn't experienced the likes of since those first few years after being made into a Slayer. Her thoughts were all over the place. Shizuru's revelation of a secret that Natsuki hadn't even known she was keeping and the memory of the kisses they had shared whirling around persistently in her mind; along with her eagerness to free Alyssa from her coma, and her sudden insight into the life of another Slayer that she'd never met. The myriad of different bits of information, each as crucially important as the next seemed to be crowding Natsuki out of her own mind, leaving her desperate for some way to escape the overwhelming demands.

Certainly Natsuki agreed that all of these issues each deserved her undivided attention, and for at least one of them she wished that she could spend some time just repeating it over in her mind for the next week. Shizuru kissed her. Shizuru was her first kiss. She had always heard that your first kiss was supposed to be a life changing event, but Natsuki hadn't realized that she would feel so fundamentally transformed by the simple act of someone else's lips touching hers. But like so many things, the kiss had been more than that. They had been so close that they were sharing air, so close that their bodies overlapped, until it seemed that that Shizuru's lips on hers, and her warm breath brushing over and inside her was the air that Natsuki needed. She had always known that kissing Shizuru would be a pleasurable experience, but it had been profound and life changing in ways that she knew she might never fully comprehend.

But Shizuru hadn't offered her any sort of firm commitments, or asked Natsuki for any of her own; at least none other than the ones they always had to each other. And it was confusing because Natsuki couldn't tell if that made her feel disappoint or a sense of reprieve. On one hand, she felt like she wanted Shizuru to need her, that it was only natural that Natsuki should always be the most important thing in Shizuru's life. But as ever the pleasant feeling of someone needing her in their life was soon overcome by the constant knowledge of a Slayer's dangerous existence, and even though she knew that everyone's lives were impermanent, her own still seemed extremely tenuous; such that the notion of Shizuru depending on her too much caused her to feel a sense of grief for the pain her best friend would inevitably experience.

The sound of familiar movement in the hallway finally distracted Natsuki from her introspective doldrums, and she barely waited long enough for Mai to close the door to their room behind herself before running across the room to pull Mai into a breath stealing hug. "You are amazing." Natsuki murmured into Mai's ear, smiling as the witch blushed shyly at the effusive praise.

"Um... thanks. I didn't expect that you'd miss me that much..." Mai replied awkwardly, her eyes shifting quickly around the room, obviously surprised to find Natsuki alone.

"You got her to come visit me." The Slayer clarified, "You didn't have to do that."

Mai blushed, finally returning Natsuki's hug, "I couldn't resist trying." She admitted, "I know that seeing Shizuru makes you happy."

"Sometimes I don't think I deserve someone like you in my life, you're so good to me." Natsuki said sadly, wondering at Mai's apparent selflessness. Why was Mai so willing to do things for Natsuki that would seem to hurt her?

Mai smirked to lighten the mood but her pale greyish blue eyes still watched Natsuki longingly, "Well it's too late for you to do anything about it now. I care about you and you won't be able to make me stop." Reluctantly Natsuki released Mai from her tight embrace, allowing her to take the few bags from the supermarket that she had been carrying into the kitchen, admiring how snugly the orange haired girl's tight short skirt hugged her rounded curves. "Was your day alright?" Mai asked cheerfully as she put away the groceries, seemingly unaware of Natsuki's intense admiration of her backside.

"Hmm." Natsuki acknowledged blankly as she enjoyed the view, wondering just what her problem was that she could barely stop herself from crossing the room and caressing Mai's soft curves when the taste Shizuru's kiss still lingered on her lips. Although she suspected that anyone seeing Mai bent over like she was to put the vegetables in the crisper might be similarly tempted. "I like your work uniform." She blurted out; wanting to smack herself as soon as she said it, since now Mai would definitely know that Natsuki had been staring at her ass.

At least Mai didn't really seem to mind, glancing over shoulder to look at Natsuki coyly before slowly rising from her more prone position. "It does seem to get me better tips than I've gotten working at other restaurants in the past." She said innocently, knowing that the idea of other people enjoying the view would drive Natsuki crazy. She giggled slightly when she heard the Slayer's soft growl in response before turning back to putting the dry goods in the few cabinets. "Don't worry though, the boss has a strict 'no touching' policy."

"Hmm." Natsuki replied, her grunt this time a vague noise of approval, silently approaching Mai and gently grabbing one of the globes of her ass in her hand, giving the soft flesh a slight squeeze. "I'm glad you don't have a similar policy in place for me." She teased, enjoying how Mai pushed back into her sudden invasive touch instead of shying away, although it seemed to make her witch unable to speak. She caressed Mai for a few more moments before grudgingly releasing her so that she could help her witch put the rest of the groceries away, smiling at the way Mai glared at her, wondering if Mai was annoyed with her for touching in the first place or stopping so abruptly.

"Hmph. Like you'd stop just because I told you to."

"Mai... of course I would stop if you didn't enjoy me touching you." Natsuki defended herself, confused when she heard Mai muttering under her breath that those weren't the same thing, but as her witch clearly didn't intend to be overheard just then Natsuki didn't press the issue, though she did wonder what Mai meant by that. Natsuki sighed as she realized just how antsy and restless she still was and decided she might use this opportunity to take some of her own advice to Red and try allowing Mai to be more involved in other parts of her life. After all, it seemed obvious from their conversation that this other Slayer normally allowed her friends to be much more involved with the slaying part of her life than Natsuki did, and she couldn't help but wonder if maybe this mysterious Buffy was on to something. Could it really be fair for her to call on Mai and Midori for help only when things were truly dire? "Um... Hey Mai? Are you really tired tonight?"

"I'm not really tired anymore, why?" Mai replied curiously, not bothering to point out that being felt up by Natsuki in the kitchen wasn't an activity that made her feel overly sleepy.

"Well... I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go on patrol with me." Natsuki asked shyly, the request sounding sort of ridiculous once she spoke it aloud, since why would Mai want to do something dirty and dangerous like prowling around dark and smelly alleys looking for vampires?

But Mai was always showing Natsuki how much she still didn't understand the strange girl she lived with, and instead gave Natsuki a surprised and happy grin, "You really mean it? You'll let me go with you?"

"Only if you want to... I'd understand if you didn't. It's not even that fun most nights, I mostly just run into vamps that barely know what they are but it's still important to get rid of them... you know, since they eat people."

"I can't believe you'd ask me to go with you is all... I know it's dangerous."

"A little. But I can protect you." Natsuki said proudly before continuing awkwardly, "...And I wanted to show you that I trust you."

Mai blushed slightly still staring at Natsuki; her blue eyes wide with amazement that made Natsuki feel a bit guilty. Had she really shown so little of her trust in Mai's abilities because of her own over protectiveness? "I... I don't know what to say. I'd love to go with you." Mai replied cheerfully, though after a moment she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Natsuki, "Wait a minute. I know why you're really asking me to go with you. How are you healthy enough to go on patrol tonight? You were in the hospital yesterday."

_I have to tell her._ Natsuki thought, but when she spoke her words still betrayed her, falling back on the old habit of keeping the big problems to herself. She wondered if she would ever be able to stop. "Well I'm feeling all better now. Did you want me to take off my shirt for you again so you can get a better look?" She teased, wondering just what she would be able to say to explain herself if Mai called her bluff and saw the new dark scars added to the already heavily marred surface of her body. She knew she was safe when Mai just made an annoyed noise at her and walked off, grumbling something about getting changed out of her work uniform. Natsuki swallowed down the pain she felt, wondering why she couldn't just come out and say it, let Mai know more about her life? Or anyone else for that matter?

Natsuki only had to wait for a few minutes before Mai came back into the main room, dressed in much more practical jeans and a form-hugging blue and white baseball t-shirt. "You look beautiful in that too." Natsuki blurted out again, blushing and wondering why she didn't seem to have any trouble at all saying things that were slightly embarrassing. But she felt better when Mai smiled sweetly at her compliment, apparently forgiving her for the earlier teasing. "...You ready to go?" She asked hesitantly, holding out Mai's leather jacket and helmet for her.

"Sure, let's go."

Soon they were sitting astride the midnight blue Kawasaki, Mai clinging tightly to Natsuki as they sped from the darkness of night towards the bright city lights. As they reached the more crowded streets, Natsuki navigated the little motorcycle expertly through the thick traffic, past parks and office buildings, to an area around Tokyo University that always seemed to be one of the favourite hunting grounds for any vampires who preferred the humans they drank from to be young and attractive. The rate of dropouts and even suicides among freshmen overwhelmed by the intense workload made the student disappearances go mostly ignored, the university administration unwilling to acknowledge such an uncomfortable problem.

She drove past the sprawling main campus and into an area full of trendy shops, coffee joints, bars and nightclubs that made up their own little idyllic village within the large city, all of which were swarming with young adults looking to have some fun even on a Monday night. Natsuki grinned victoriously when she spotted a small space between all the vehicles crowded against the sidewalk just large enough to fit her bike. As they climbed off the bike, Natsuki giggled when Mai could barely stop studying their crowded surroundings long enough to hand her the helmet to store with the bike. "I take it you haven't been to Toudai Town before?"

Mai shook her head enthusiastically, "No... I used to think about going to school here though." She blushed slightly as Natsuki took one of her hands and gently pulled her forward, eager to get started on their patrol. "You know, it's probably funny for me to say this, but everyone here is so young!"

Natsuki laughed, "Yeah I know, but most of the 'real grownups' who work at nearby offices or something don't come here. Don't let the party atmosphere fool you though, vamps love this place. Never come here without me."

"Hmm." Mai agreed, glancing sideways at Natsuki teasingly, "Is that why, or are you worried that I would find a handsome college aged boyfriend?"

"You're just trying to test me tonight aren't you?" Natsuki growled playfully, leading Mai into a nearby crowded nightclub, the heavily muscled bouncer collecting money at the door simply waving cheerfully at her as she entered. It was dark inside, a fairly small room that felt smaller for all the bodies crowded onto the small dance floor. It was lit mostly by purple and blue neon lights, the bass from the local college band jamming away inexpertly but with lots of enthusiasm on the small stage loud enough to be felt throbbing rhythmically against their skin.

"They know you here?" Mai asked suspiciously, having noticed the long line of slightly drunk college students they passed on their way in.

"Um, yeah. I try to make it by here at least once every week. Vamps love places like this." Natsuki explained hastily, having to shout to be heard over the loud music. She winced when she heard her name being shouted by a familiar voice, but still headed over to the bar, wondering with some amusement how jealous Mai would be at the attractive bartender being on a first name basis with her.

"Hey Natsuki!" The Slayer rolled her eyes, but still grinned as she approached the tall female bartender waving at her enthusiastically. The young woman's chin length dirty blonde hair and conservatively cut masculine attire was in sharp contrast to what most of the other women in the club were wearing, their fetishy costumes looking more like something out of a strange hentai manga than anything Natsuki would wear in public. ...Not that she knew where Midori kept those in an unlabeled box at the bottom of her closet.

"Yo Sei." She greeted shortly, still holding Mai's hand to keep her close, sending a few angry glares at college boys whose eyes lingered on her witch for too long, much to Mai's apparent amusement.

"New girl tonight?" The bartender teased her dark grey eyes dancing with amusement as she slid two sodas across the bar to the high school aged girls.

Natsuki glared at the troublemaker with annoyance as she felt Mai take a step away from her and let go of her hand, sensing blue eyes looking at her questioningly. "Sei, you know I never bring anyone here."

"Hmm... that may be so. But you always seem to leave with someone."

The Slayer growled dangerously as she stalked closer to her meddlesome acquaintance, "Have you ever seen any of them again after I leave with them? And do I look like a slut to you?"

Sei just laughed unapologetically, "Not a slut maybe, but you definitely seem like a player. And I would know." She looked over Mai thoughtfully, smiling broadly as the high school girl blushed and moved closer to Natsuki again, unused to the grownup atmosphere of the nightclub or the harsh almost boyish speech passing between the two friends. "You must have little Natsuki on a pretty tight leash for her to care so much about what you think."

Mai gazed at the older girl shyly, but felt more confident when Natsuki put her arm around her waist, holding her close as she sensed the witch's discomfort with the strange new place. "Hmm... I'm on her leash actually. She just doesn't like for me to hear things that will make me want to run away." She replied seriously, showing no hint of teasing in her eyes as she leaned into Natsuki's touch.

Natsuki would have laughed out loud at seeing a blush on the insufferably bold Sei's face for the first time if she wasn't blushing so much herself. _God, I never know what Mai is going to say. Now Sei is going to think that I'm making Mai do all kinds of kinky stuff, and as soon as she recovers she's never going to stop making fun of me. _ Natsuki cleared her throat pointedly, drawing Sei's now unusually wide grey eyes back to her. "If you're done trying to make my girl uncomfortable now, have you seen anyone suspicious around tonight?" She asked, generally trusting the college girl's ability to spot vampires. Sei was just a normal human, but she was really great at reading people and her ability to pick out a vamp even in this crowd rivalled Natsuki's own.

"No not yet. You going to stop by again later tonight?" Sei asked thoughtfully, scanning the small crowded dance floor with narrowed eyes.

"Yeah, unless things are too busy out there." Natsuki confirmed, knowing that it was far from unusual for vampires to hunt in this place later in the night.

"Hmm. Yeah, well I don't see anyone who looks too sketchy, but you feel free to look for yourself. I know we have a lot less students mysteriously 'dropping out' or otherwise disappearing when you're around." Sei said, wincing as she heard her name being called by a grumpy male voice that sounded much older than most of the clientele in the small club. "Oops... guess that's the sign that I've been slacking off long enough. Thanks again for dropping by. And bring your girl again next time too, seeing her definitely made my night a lot better."

Natsuki barely resisted the urge to punch Sei's cheeky grin off of her face, instead confining her response to a rude hand gesture as she silently indicated to Mai that they needed to get moving. "Sorry about that rude idiot." She murmured in Mai's ear, receiving an amused grin and a shrug in response. Not sensing anything unusual, Natsuki pulled Mai with her out the backdoor of the club and into the dirty alleyway behind it, a feral angry smile on her face when she saw the female vampire drinking from a skinny nerdy looking college guy that she had shoved against the faded brick wall. His thick glasses had fallen off of his face, saved from falling to the ground only by their unstylish nylon geekstrap, and his perfectly ironed dress shirt had been ripped open a few buttons to reveal part of his pale skinny chest and neck where the vampire was currently feeding. The young male looked slightly confused and in pain but he made no move to struggle, as though this was as far as he had ever gotten with a girl, so even if she was acting weird and her face had suddenly turned all bumpy he wasn't sure if he should try and make her stop.

Shoving down her amusement, Natsuki extended the claws in her right hand since her left was still holding Mai's and strode quickly over to the dysfunctional couple, the sharp bony points of her claws effortlessly severing the vampire's head from the rest of her body before she'd even registered the threat. The college boy coughed loudly as the dust from his dispatched abusive 'girlfriend' floated into his airway, glaring at Natsuki. "Hey, what's your problem?" He complained nasally, even as he winced in pain holding a bony hand to his freely bleeding neck.

Natsuki rolled her eyes, "Next time a girl that hot acts really desperate to get in your pants; maybe you should stop and think why she's so interested in you." She offered helpfully, almost laughing when the tall boy continued to glare down at her. Then he seemed to notice that both Natsuki and her companion were female as well, and he perked back up hopefully.

"Um... I don't suppose you girls would want to come to me and my buddies' Warcraft LAN party this weekend? Makoto-kun said he was going to bring beer." He asked plaintively.

Natsuki was getting ready to reply with another vaguely insulting remark, but felt Mai squeeze her hand and glanced over to see Mai giving her a disapproving look that seemed to say 'don't be mean'. Natsuki sighed before replying dully, "Uh, I'm busy that night... but my Battlenet account is OokamiDuran if you want to look me up. I mostly play Diablo though."

The nerdy college guy grinned excitedly at not being completely shot down, "Hey no problem. I love Diablo! I'll add you when I get home. My name is Chul by the way."

"Yep. Um... you be more careful about picking up strange girls alright Chul-kun? Don't want you to get eaten before we at least get to pvp." She replied, deciding that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to be casual friends with him. Giving him a wave she glanced back at Mai who was now smiling at her sweetly, making Natsuki feel a bit like a puppy that had just done a cute trick. "You ready to go Mai?"

"Yeah." Mai said quietly, giving the boy a friendly wave as she and Natsuki headed off down the narrow alley together, "It was nice meeting you Chul-kun." Despite her indication that she thought Natsuki was being a bit too harsh on the poor guy, Mai burst out laughing as soon as they were out of earshot. "Oh my gosh, do you see stuff like that a lot?"

"Almost every time I go on patrol." Natsuki confirmed cheerfully.

"How is it that everyone doesn't know about vampires then?" Mai asked in disbelief, "And that boy, he didn't even seem to realize what had happened!"

Natsuki shrugged helplessly, "About eighty percent of people I come across being attacked by something demony tend to react like that. It's like their brains can't really record the memory of what happened to them accurately, so they aren't nearly as scared as they should be." She said slowly, since she was still confused by the phenomenon as well. "Some people like Sei back at the bar seem to be able to put the sketchy lurkers and mysterious disappearances together to get four, but most people remain oblivious. I'm not sure if it's something about the vampires themselves, some sort of denial on the part of the victims, or a combination of both."

"That's the strangest thing I've ever seen."

"It is... but at least it keeps knowledge of powerful things under the radar of people with too much money..." Natsuki said, voicing her worries about what had happened to herself and Alyssa because of powerful men who wanted to control forces greater than them.

Mai glanced over at Natsuki with worry in her blue eyes but for the moment said nothing. After walking a little ways they turned down another alley, the smell of urine and alcohol so strong here that she felt her stomach flipping over uncomfortably in protest. "Are you okay Natsuki?" She finally asked when the Slayer made no move to speak again and clarify what she had meant by her cryptic comment.

"Yeah." Natsuki replied unconvincingly, kicking an empty beer can forcefully with her heavy boot, sending it skittering loudly across the cracked cement to clang lightly against an overflowing rusted metal dumpster. "...Have you heard from Takumi-kun lately?" She asked suddenly, trying to deflect Mai's concern for a little bit longer until she could organize her jumbled thoughts.

"Sort of. My uncle emailed me earlier this week to say that they got the money my dad wired for them. Takumi was too tired from physical therapy to do more than type me a sentence to let me know that he was okay and that he misses me. Uncle said that the doctor thought Takumi would be strong enough to undergo the surgery next week." Mai replied, only a little bit of her intense concern for her little brother leaking into her voice since she'd sadly grown so accustomed to worrying about him over the years. "We're really hoping that he's finally going to be able to get better after this."

"You have a dad?" Natsuki asked and then wanted to smack her own forehead at how surprised she sounded, "I didn't mean it like that... I mean obviously you have a dad..."

Mai hugged the flustered Natsuki sympathetically, "Hey, I know what you meant. Yeah... He still takes care of both of us; he's a fisherman though so we don't get to see him much... Especially these last few years since he's been working so hard to raise the money for Takumi's surgery." Mai sighed softly, her blue eyes glancing nervously around the dark alley, "I really hope that the surgery can help Takumi... I don't think dad could take it if all his work wasn't enough. He was already pretty devastated over mom."

"That must be hard on him."

"Yeah... especially since my uncle, my mom's brother, for the longest time blamed the accident on my dad." Mai said, shaking her head. They walked for a few moments in silence, heading out of the narrow alley. Natsuki lead them to a nearby little park across the street, gesturing to Mai that they should sit down on an empty wooden bench, even here most of them were filled with small groups of college students enjoying their food from one of the nearby shops and the soft breeze of the warm spring night.

"Why would he blame your dad for that? It was an accident right?" Natsuki asked in confusion.

"Well... Because she'd gone out on dad's boat with him one weekend. He and the guys in his crew were taking their wives to one of the nearby islands for a weekend trip... but by the afternoon one of those summer storms came up. My mom wasn't really that great of a swimmer... and she ended up falling into the ocean." Mai explained, her grief at remembering the event making her words come slowly and haltingly.

"Oh. I'm sorry Mai, I shouldn't have asked..." Natsuki apologized, even as she wondered what sort of guilt Mai's father must have felt. After all his wife had been killed by the same ocean that he made his living on. _And am I any less foolish for taking his daughter with me to my job that is almost certainly more dangerous?_

Mai glared at Natsuki, obviously guessing from her dark expression where her thoughts had gone. "But it wasn't his fault at all. So I don't want to hear that. They'd gone on that trip every year for ten years before that and nothing bad had ever happened, and my mom went with him on the boat plenty of times besides that. I don't think she would have wanted to give up one of the few times of year that she got to spend lots of time with my dad just to have been a little safer." She looked into Natsuki's eyes, "And even if it took my mother, I still love going out in the ocean."

"I didn't think that it was his fault..." Natsuki said defensively.

"No, but you were thinking about how if anything happened to me tonight it would be your fault." Mai pointed out, her tone slightly teasing to lighten the mood but not allowing Natsuki to speak again to protest. "Why don't you tell me about what's really bothering you tonight?"

Natsuki smiled faintly, her green eyes taking another quick sweep of the occupants of the park to make certain that no one seemed out of place. Satisfied that there weren't any undead lurking about, she turned back to Mai, "Alright, you win. I'll accept that you're out here with me completely voluntarily, because you'd never do anything just because I wanted you to."

Mai smirked, "Maybe not, but I'm certainly open to suggestions."

Natsuki blushed at the many possibilities that brought to mind but shook her head sadly, knowing that this wasn't the time to be distracted by such pleasant thoughts, "Could I ask you a sortof random question?" At Mai's confused nod she continued hesitantly, "...When did you realize that Takumi was really important to you?"

Mai blinked in surprise; of all the questions she'd been expecting this certainly wasn't one of them. "Um... I don't know really. I was pretty excited about getting a little sibling as soon as my mom told me she was pregnant. After he was delivered he had to stay in the ICU for a while because his lungs and heart were too weak, and I was so disappointed that I had to wait longer to meet him, but I was so worried too. When she finally brought him home from the hospital he was still so tiny and quiet for a baby... I just wanted to take care of him immediately..." Mai trailed off wistfully as she thought about her little brother who she still thought of everyday despite how much she was enjoying senior high school and her time with Natsuki. "Even though taking care of him was a lot of work, I wouldn't want to imagine my life without him."

Natsuki listened quietly as Mai spoke, thinking back to the first time she saw Alyssa singing in the small cathedral on campus. What did she feel? She had thought that the little girl seemed so cute and fragile certainly, and she had felt very protective of her. But was it any different from what she felt looking at any small child? Did some part of her recognize Alyssa? Did it matter if she didn't? "Mai... what if you didn't meet him that way?"

Natsuki's question drew Mai out of her contemplation of Takumi's younger years, and blue eyes focused sharply on the Slayer's troubled expression, wondering what exactly was worrying her to cause such a strange line of questioning. "...I'm not sure I understand your meaning. How else would I have met him?"

The Slayer shrugged, scooting closer to Mai on the bench so that she could rest her head on her witch's shoulder, gazing up into her now very concerned blue eyes plaintively in a way that immediately made Mai put her arms around her and give her a hug. Natsuki smiled thankfully before speaking, her voice hesitant, "Well... I don't know why it would happen. But what if somehow he got switched with another kid at the hospital and your mom brought home the wrong baby. Now, I know that you all would be awesome to the other baby no matter what, but that's not my question." She sighed softly as she struggled to find the right words, "If you met Takumi years later, do you think you would know there was something special about him? Even if you hadn't known he existed until that moment?"

Mai didn't really know how to respond at first, Natsuki's questions seemed hypothetical enough, but the way she asked them made the witch very aware that the Slayer had some sort of emotional investment in Mai's answer. Mai just couldn't seem to sort out why that would be the case. "Well... I really don't know Natsuki. In some ways it's so hard for me to imagine not knowing him..." She trailed off, gazing over at a young couple and their small toddler, wondering idly if they were students at the university too or recent graduates who were coming back here to relive old memories. Perhaps they met here. "I'd like to think that I would feel something anyway. That some part of me would recognize how like me he is in so many ways... But that might be purely wishful thinking on my part too. I really don't know." She looked down at Natsuki who was nuzzling her cheek against Mai's jacket, looking like nothing more than a scared girl who was overwhelmed by how big and confusing the world was. "Do you mind if I ask why you're so curious about this? I don't mind telling you anything at all, but it just seems a bit unusual."

"Last night..." Natsuki shivered as she remembered the combination of wonder and sheer crushing responsibility that rivalled even her duty as a Slayer that had briefly overwhelmed her when Miyu first told her about Alyssa's creation. Seeking comfort she looked up into patient and gentle blue eyes that always made her feel safer even if she was the one who was supposed to be the protector, "Last night I found out that Alyssa is my sister." She felt Mai's shoulder stiffen under her, and the gentle arm thrown around her tighten its grip as the witch gasped in surprise at the news.

For a few moments Mai simply stared at Natsuki in amazement, not sure how to reply. Of all the things she had expected Natsuki to tell her, this certainly wasn't one of them. "I... I really don't know what to say." She admitted, "I don't know how I would have reacted to hearing something like that. Are you okay?"

Natsuki shrugged, "Honestly I don't know. I know that from the moment I first saw her I felt really protective of her... but I'm a Slayer you know? That's how I'm supposed to feel when I look at something small and helpless." She smiled up at Mai, "Though I guess everyone is supposed to feel that way. It's just stronger for us apparently, since that's why we exist." _At least that's what Duran always told me._ "So in some ways I can't tell if I should feel differently now just because I know who she is to me... but Mai... I do feel differently about her. I wanted to save her before, but now I need to save her."

Mai felt her heart clinch as she thought of Takumi being in an unwaking coma that she couldn't understand; of his small frail body being further taxed by dark magicks more powerful than she could imagine, growing slowly into less and less the kind little boy that she cared for so much. She felt tears stinging her eyes as she remembered the now deathly pale and dark haired Alyssa sleeping in the large hospital bed, realizing all of a sudden why the small girl had looked so familiar. It was like seeing the strong and brave Natsuki as a much younger child, and with that thought Mai found herself becoming completely invested in this fight in a new way. No longer was she in it only to help keep Natsuki as safe as she could, she was in it because she realized more clearly now that this endless fight of Natsuki's; it was a good fight. If they didn't fight, so many countless children like Alyssa and her Takumi would face futures more terrible than she could imagine. The touch of dark magick tearing away at her own mind and sanity during the ritual, flooding into her body and trying to rip her from it would forever be a vivid and horrible memory, and she knew without a doubt that Alyssa must feel something similar every time she summoned some powerful creature from a hell dimension. "I'll help you." She replied simply, no trace of doubt in her voice or eyes.

"...But it's going to be really dangerous. And I don't want you to have to do something if you're not sure."

"She needs you. And if you need my help in order to help her, then I'm here for you Natsuki. Whatever you need. My magick, my support, my secrecy, anything you need." Mai promised seriously gently caressing Natsuki's cheek, her heart pausing slightly at the feeling of moisture on smooth skin and she looked closer to see green eyes shining suspiciously in the glow of the streetlights. "I promise Natsuki. I'd only regret it if I didn't do everything I could to help you."

Natsuki leaned in close, her lips ghosting lightly over Mai's own before she rested her forehead against the witch's, gazing into slightly startled blue eyes, "Thank you." Mai could only nod silently, and try as she might she couldn't find it in her to worry about all the terrible things that might happen to them if anything went wrong. She knew that agreeing to help Alyssa would mean facing the powerful magicks that had scarred both of them deeply, even if Mai's scars were only in her mind; but looking into Natsuki's bright green eyes, and feeling the slight tingle from the chaste and innocent kiss on her lips seemed to scatter her fears harmlessly like fog in the sunlight. _After all, what could be so powerful that we could not face it together?_


	20. Chapter 20

DISCLAIMER: Starting with the next update, this little fic is getting a rating change to M. ^,^ For the people who like reading this, be aware that it will need to be searched out using the appropriate filter now. That doesn't mean that we're suddenly going to be having smut every chapter or something, but I figured it was better to be safe than risk offending anyone.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

Tuesday April 30, 2000

Mai again tried to force down the rising insistent feeling of panic that urged her to find some way out of this situation, inching closer to Natsuki as they trudged along the dark narrow underground stone passageway, the flickering light of Natsuki's lantern casting strange shadows on the crudely carved out rock. She hadn't known that she was claustrophobic but it felt like they had been slowly heading further and further down into this narrow fissure in the earth for hours; and the longer they walked along, the more the stone walls themselves seemed to actively narrow. Over the last couple minutes they had gotten so close that Mai's slim shoulders scraped against the rough walls of the passage that got darker by the minute, the darkness around them a living creature that was fighting to extinguish Natsuki's feeble lamplight. At this very moment both teenagers were supposed to be sitting safely in their desks in class, but instead they had returned together to the abandoned monastery deep in the forest, Natsuki stating that the underground chamber she found her first time here was the safest place she could think of to perform the spirit walker trial. The Slayer had said something about the Key protecting them from anyone else reaching this place that Mai didn't understand, but now they had been walking for so long and Mai couldn't help wondering if this mysterious 'Key' didn't want for the two of them to be here either.

She gasped in surprise when suddenly the passage ahead of them was lit by more than the feeble light of Natsuki's lantern, nearly dropping the armful of blankets that she was carrying for them, Natsuki having decided it would be wise to bring them for warmth. The Slayer was carrying a small cooler with drinks and a few days worth of dry food saying that she thought it was better to be over prepared. As they rounded the next turn, all of her doubts over the wisdom of their venturing into the underground passage fell away, replaced by the wonder that only comes from seeing something more beautiful than you've ever imagined for the first time. "Natsuki, you didn't tell me how beautiful this place is." Mai said softly, unwilling to raise her voice much above a whisper for fear of disturbing the silent chamber.

Natsuki could only nod in response, again awed to motionlessness by the huge underground room. Since the last time she had been here, the fairy lights appeared to have multiplied in number, their soft white glows much brighter than the weak sunlight shining indirectly through the open skylight in the natural limestone ceiling. The little willow tree was now in full bloom, its furry drooping branches covered in tiny white flowers and seeming to glow itself from the inside because of all of the tiny fairy lights huddling close against it. The full grandeur of the natural room reflected itself off of the shallow glasslike water that covered most of the flat stone floor, except for the entrance where they stood and a raised area around the base of the little tree that would be just large enough for the two girls to set up their spell.

With effort Natsuki shook herself out of simply staring at the amazing splendor of the cavern, gently nudging Mai to let her know they still needed to get started. But even knowing the necessity of their mission here, the Slayer felt hesitant as she stepped into the inches deep silent glassy waters, her boots sending small ripples across the surface and disturbing the perfect reflection of the room's beauty. Mai followed quietly behind, her blue eyes nearly unblinking as they tried to take in the natural magicks surrounding them. No matter what happened with the spell she wanted to remember being in this place with Natsuki. It seemed so untraveled, as though she and Natsuki were the only two humans to venture here in unimaginable ages, and the thought that the Slayer trusted Mai out of all the people she knew to share this place with was humbling.

As they reached the small island, Natsuki placed the cooler and extinguished lantern down against the ridged bark at the base of the tree and then set about helping Mai to lay the blankets down over the surprisingly dry limestone, enough so that they soon had a softly cushioned surface upon which to cast their spell. Natsuki was thankful that this was one magickal ritual which didn't require any flames, allowing them to cast it both safely and in relative comfort. When they had finished setting up the area for the casting she heard Mai gasp again in surprise, and looked out to see that a countless number of the many fairy lights had lowered themselves down into the water. Their faint lights seemed to dissipate out across the once more still surface of the shallow pond making the whole of it simmer a pale silver, looking much like the faint river of distant stars that make up the Milky Way.

"…They didn't do that the last time I was here." Natsuki murmured in surprise, even as she pulled the folded pages with the words to initiate the trial from her jacket pocket. Red's girlfriend had explained that this ritual didn't require much in the way of ceremony because of the great sacrifice the casters offered to the deity that they were summoning. Ceremony, she had explained was just another way of showing one's respect for the Goddess, but offering Her complete control over the fate of one's soul was considered an ultimate gift of sorts, binding Her worshipers in a very permanent way. Natsuki was somewhat skeptical that this spell would even work since she didn't really consider herself to be a particularly spiritual person. Still she hoped that there might be at least one eternal powerful entity on the side of good to balance out all of the demons.

Natsuki and Mai sat awkwardly on their nest of blankets, Natsuki handing the witch the slightly crumpled print out since the only parts she needed to speak aloud were a few words that Mai would read that she repeated. For a few quiet moments they simply looked into each others' eyes across the small distance between them, the strangeness of the setting and the risk they were about to take giving the whole situation a disjointed sense of unreality that served only to heighten the tension they were both feeling. As one they reached out, intertwining their fingers for a moment, the feeling of their warm nervously sweaty palms touching almost enough to reassure both of them that this wasn't simply a dream. "Are you ready?" Natsuki asked, not knowing what her own answer would be to that question.

"...I think so."

Nodding slowly, Natsuki shifted so she could pull up her pant-leg slightly to unbuckle the leather sheath that held the large blade of her favourite knife, offering the hilt to Mai who carefully took the weapon from her hand with a reverence that startled the Slayer. When she was holding the knife Mai slowly drew the heavy blade from its worn leather home, her nervous blue eyes studying the well-sharpened serrated edge for a moment. Then she took a deep calming breath and her eyes hardened as she ran an experimental finger over the edge, allowing her skin to feel its sharpness. Natsuki stared in fascination, her breathing becoming quicker and shallower as she watched Mai practically caressing the hard steel of her knife, the sight almost unbearably erotic to the Slayer despite the seriousness of their task.

Mai glanced up from her study of the blade to gaze into Natsuki's bright eyes, distracting herself from what she was about to do. Not giving herself another moment to think, Mai quickly drew the sharp metal across the palm of her hand, not even wincing as the teeth of the blade shredded into the tiny muscles there. She leaned in to gently kiss Natsuki's soft lips, her own smiling sadly against them. "Good luck Natsuki." She murmured, the nervousness now gone from her voice. Reluctantly she pulled back, raising two fingers dripping with her warm blood and rubbing them over Natsuki's slightly parted lips, painting them darker, the feeling of the Slayer's hot breath on her fingers a pleasant balm for the sharp pain. Watching Natsuki's now closed eyes and the calm trusting expression on her face, suddenly the words of the spell came to her without need to read them from the paper.

"Artemis, Soul of Luna, Protector of Maidens, I invoke thee. With the blood of my heart, I call you forth. If you find my blood pure, I ask that you make my body your own."

"Artemis, Soul of Luna, Protector of Maidens, I invoke thee. With my own soulfire, I invite you. If you find my fire worthy, I ask that you make my spirit your own."

Mai spoke softly, but her low voice seemed to fill the stone chamber, reverberating across the room with strength and confidence. Reaching out again with bloody fingers, she now painted dark lines on Natsuki's cheekbones under her eyes, the deep red looking like warpaint on the young Champion's face. As she finished painting Natsuki's face with her blood, she offered the hilt of the knife back to its owner, wincing as Natsuki drew the still bloodstained blade along her own hand. Glowing green eyes opened again as Natsuki raised her bleeding palm to Mai's lips, watching enthralled as her witch drank down a few mouthfuls of the hot thick liquid before continuing her chant with a rivulet of the Slayer's blood dripping slowly down her soft feminine chin.

"I implore thee to feel the intent of my plea, that you will allow us who are now as one to protect your daughter who has fallen into darkness.

"This Champion of the Old Ones before me offers the power of her blood for you and the strength of her soul to bring your daughter back from the realm between. Goddess of the Hunt that you find her worthy, help me guide her to the Realm of Spirits to search for your lost daughter."

As Mai finished speaking, Natsuki echoed her words softly, altering them to reaffirm her status as the Champion, and Mai as her guide into the spirit realms; trying her hardest to concentrate on the words instead of the pleasantly painful sting of Mai continuing to drink her blood from the wound on her hand. Moments passed, and soon the room around them began to ripple subtly, the waters of the shallow pool glowing whiter and the fairy lights still floating in the air around them beginning to circle them at faster and faster speeds. Then suddenly Natsuki felt her entire body enveloped in a cold fluid darkness, except for the wound on her hand where Mai's warm mouth caressed her broken skin. The heavy darkness was like night given physical form, and it closed in tighter around both of them until soon they didn't even have space to draw breath. A calm force in the cold darkness prevented them from panicking at the feeling of suffocating, their bodies shutting down peacefully under the constant crushing pressure.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

It was hot. That was the first thing Natsuki noticed as she slowly came back into awareness. It was a dry, baking heat that soaked into her muscles, relaxing them in a pleasant way. Natsuki stretched lazily as she opened her eyes, unable to remember when she'd fallen asleep. She blinked in surprise as she took in her surroundings; it was a place she knew she had never been, but in some deep primal way it still felt like home. She was inside a small stone cave; the large mouth of it was partially covered by a primitive curtain of animal hide that was opened enough to allow the bright hot midday sun to stream into the meagre shelter, offering more light than the brightest modern light bulbs. The bright sunlight revealed light tan stone walls covered in crude paintings of various animals and demons, as well as a dark female warrior armed with primitive weapons. Her body was covered in intricate patterns of white paint that made her look very much like the fearless ideal fighter that Natsuki always envisioned herself as. The painted warrior was obviously the hunter of these various creatures, perhaps even the owner of this shelter. In the corners of the cave stacked high were the skulls of many of the creatures depicted in the paintings, both natural and demonic; one large fanged skull looked about half as long from muzzle to the base of its cranium as Natsuki was tall.

She was lying comfortably atop a crude pallet type bed, which was nothing more than a few thin animal-hide mattresses piled on the dusty floor, likely stuffed with dry grasses to aid in their thickness. The covers that she was laying on top of seemed to be the furs of some large cats judging by the stripes and softness. At her side under the covers Mai lay sleeping soundly on her back and Natsuki blushed when she saw from the pale freckled flesh of her exposed shoulders and chest that her witch was almost certainly naked underneath them. In a brief moment of panic she glanced down to assess her own state of dress, and breathed a sigh of relief when she found she was wearing simple crude leather armour that was really nothing more than a thigh length belted tunic of sorts. She felt her heart beating faster when she noticed her exposed skin was painted with what seemed to be dark red warpaint, but from the coppery scent of it she imagined it was actually dried blood, the patterns on her body identical to the painted warrior on the cave wall.

She felt a sense of urgency despite the relaxing heat around her, remembering vaguely that she was here to accomplish something important. She reached out and rested her calloused palm on the Mai's warm shoulder, gently shaking the witch and murmuring her name, "Come on Mai... you can't sleep all day. You have to get up so you can come with me." She pleaded softly, feeling a bit guilty at first about waking the peacefully sleeping witch but then growing a bit frightened when her efforts yielded no response from Mai. She froze to complete stillness when she suddenly detected a familiar scent she would recognize anywhere, faint vanilla and cinnamon that were far more civilized than the rest of her primitive surroundings.

"My Natsuki won't be able to wake her pet in this place." The familiar lilt said apologetically, but despite the warning when she turned she was still surprised to see Shizuru standing a few feet away, her body framed by the brilliant sunlight. The Slayer thought that her elegant friend looked lovely even dressed in primitive leather clothing similar to her own, though Shizuru's was cut differently allowing the hide to hug her generous curves more tightly. Shizuru's pale skin was not painted, but she had several necklaces of small light purple flowers draped around her that rested on top of the intertwined snakes of her Auryn pendant, that somehow out of all of her normal attire had followed her to this strange place.

"S-Shizuru...? How...?" Natsuki asked, staring at her best friend with wide eyes.

Shizuru pouted playfully at Natsuki, as though her presence here should not have caused the Slayer any surprise. "Natsuki is such a meanie, acting as though I am not always welcome in her home. If she is worried about my sneaking a peek at her pet, I promise to keep my eyes averted."

"I-Um..." Natsuki growled in frustration as she stood on slightly shaky legs and took a cautious step toward the tawny brunette, wondering if Shizuru would disappear if she tried to reach out and touch her. "Gah... Shizuru... I didn't mean that I didn't want you here. I just don't understand how you could be here at all... I don't even know where here is."

"Hmmm... well from what I saw when I arrived outside of Natsuki's home, we are somewhere in Africa... though as for when exactly we are... Natsuki's guess is as good as mine." Shizuru answered helpfully, making no move to step closer to Natsuki.

"Africa? ...When we are?" Natsuki questioned dumbly, running hesitant fingers over the smooth bare skin of Shizuru's arm, surprised to find that her friend was solid and touchable instead of a mere apparition. "You're real." Her voice was hushed and full of awe; her tone of voice could not have been more reverent if she had just touched the flesh of a goddess. _Though as far as I'm concerned, that is what I just did._

Shizuru nodded answering Natsuki's first question, "Time travels differently and sometimes not at all in the realms between. This one that my Natsuki and her pet sought is the place and time where our entire world was allowed to come into being, when countless possible Earths branched off from each other. Her sister's soul is trapped here as payment for a greater balance between the light and dark."

"Alyssa... So I made it? This is the spirit trial?" Natsuki asked, surprised when Shizuru gave her another nod of affirmation. "I thought it was just a vision quest? But we're really here?"

"Natsuki and her pet are here... I seem real, but for myself all of this has already happened in a dream." Shizuru explained with a wistful smile playing across her full lips, gesturing for Natsuki to follow her out into the sunlight.

Natsuki blinked against the blindingly bright sun, shielding her eyes with her hand so that she could take a look at their surroundings while her eyes adjusted to the brightness, she couldn't remember the midday sun ever being quite so painful. Despite the sun's brightness the light it cast was tinted to the red, giving the vast savannah spread out before them a sinister look to it that she'd never seen in the many nature documentaries about African wildlife that she'd watched. Still the flat grassland as far as the eye could see, dotted with short stretched out trees and alive with herds of wildebeest and zebra grazing under the watchful eye of a pride of lions resting in the shade of a nearby tree, felt like a place that she knew deep in her bones even if she had never set foot here. It was beautiful, but it was also foreboding. The animals seemed larger and with teeth and horns bigger than she remembered, the lions having fangs that protruded far out of their muzzles almost like the prehistoric smilodon. "How am I supposed to know what I need to do here? This place is huge."

Shizuru stepped behind Natsuki resting her chin on the Slayer's shoulder wrapping one arm around her slim waist and pulling her close, the humidity of her breath against Natsuki's skin a sharp contrast to the dry heat. For a few moments they simply enjoyed their closeness as they both stared out over the vast unfamiliar savannah, until Shizuru raised her arm and pointed out in the distance to the left of the cave. "See the darkness there on the eastern horizon? That is the dark jungle from which the beasts from other worlds always seem to come forth." She explained smoothly, as though she had spent all of her life surviving the many difficulties of this unforgiving environment.

Natsuki merely nodded, figuring that if she dreamed of this place frequently, Shizuru's guess about where Natsuki needed to be was certainly better than her own. "You said that Mai won't wake...? Is she... okay?" Natsuki asked, her voice tight in her throat and cracking roughly as she worried that already this reckless adventure was causing harm to someone she cared for.

"Natsuki need not worry, her pet is fine. She simply cannot wake in this realm while the one she is tethering to our own time and space is so close by. If my Natsuki wishes, it was my intention to remain here and protect her pet from harm. I admit it would be my preference to protect Natsuki, but one taking this trial is not permitted to bring another human companion to aid them." Shizuru explained sadly, her voice betraying her intense unrest at allowing Natsuki to fight alone, causing the Slayer to wonder if Shizuru always felt so strongly about her being Chosen. Still there was something that her friend had said that Natsuki just couldn't let pass.

Green eyes shifted to try and look at her teasing friend, though it was difficult in their current position, and the awkwardness of her attempt blunted the impact of her protest, "I told you not to call Mai a pet."

Natsuki felt Shizuru's lips curl into a wry smile as her friend gently kissed her cheek, "My Natsuki is always so over protective of the ones she cares for, even when they do not need protecting. Strictly speaking I have not yet had the conversation with Natsuki where she tells me not to call her pet a pet." Shizuru teased cryptically, "But no matter my likely acquiescence to Natsuki's request for a more politically correct term, I do not feel that Mai-san would object to my referring to her as Natsuki's pet anymore than that lion over there would object to being called a cat."

"But she means so much more to me than that..." Natsuki protested and she meant it, but her words lacked any real force because the idea of Mai being desperately needy of her protection and attention wasn't entirely unappealing to her.

Shizuru nodded, again understanding more than just the words that Natsuki spoke. "Even if she means the world to Natsuki, it is important that you understand that she would do anything for you simply because Natsuki asked it of her. Her own life is a reasonable sacrifice if Natsuki requests it."

"...But wouldn't you act the same way...?" Natsuki asks hesitantly, "I know I would do that for either of you. But I guess that's what I am."

Shizuru sighed sadly, "My Natsuki has always been so quick to put herself in danger for the safety of others. And of course I would sacrifice myself for Natsuki if such an action was the only thing I could do to save her. However, I would also be willing to stop Natsuki from doing something that she was insistent upon because she thought was the right thing to do."

"Mai would do that too. She doesn't just do whatever I tell her to." Natsuki protested.

"Would she? I do not think that she would. From what I have seen Mai-san would attempt to dissuade Natsuki from her dangerous actions, but if she was unsuccessful she would still attempt to help Natsuki. She would not go to any lengths necessary to stop you from doing something that you truly believed in the rightness of." Shizuru explained calmly, her voice not really conveying her opinion of Mai's supposed moral inclinations.

"...And you would? Stop me?"

Shizuru nodded solemnly, "Nothing is more important to me than Natsuki, not even her ideals as a Champion."

"...oh." Natsuki wondered briefly just what exactly Shizuru could do to stop her, after all Natsuki was easily physically stronger. Or would Shizuru simply be able to stand up to her in some way that would sway her opinions differently from what Mai's actions could? "Is that was what you were trying to warn me about? Your visions were telling you that you would do something to try and prevent me from doing my job?" Natsuki asked cautiously, trying to keep her tone of voice from sounding accusatory.

Shizuru laughed softly "Natsuki says that like she thinks I can see the future."

The Slayer took a step away from Shizuru so that she could look her friend in the eye, though she reached out to hold one of her hands, fearing that if she stopped physical contact, Shizuru would disappear out of this strange dreamlike world. "I thought that's what you told me you could do...?"

"No. I told Natsuki that I have dark dreams that sometimes contain hints of things to come. The darkness that lately haunts my dreams could be because I must betray Natsuki in some way in order to save her, but I am not so foolish as to think that this is the only possibility; certainly not in a world as full of darkness as our own, or the many other darker ones that touch it." Shizuru explained sadly, her pain at the thought that she could soon betray Natsuki clear to the Slayer even if Shizuru was trying to play it off like it was no big deal.

"Shizuru... I know you wouldn't do anything to hurt me on purpose." Natsuki squeezed Shizuru's lightly calloused hand, trying her best to comfort her friend.

To Natsuki's surprise Shizuru let go of her hand and took a step away, hugging her arms around herself despite the hot sunlight beating down on both of them. Red eyes swirled with dark intense emotion, downcast as Shizuru let out a soft sigh her harshly spoken words both comforting and chilling, "Natsuki has no idea what I would do to keep her near me." She shifted her eyes back to Natsuki, almost glaring at the Slayer in a way that made Natsuki take an involuntary step back. "Natsuki should get going if she wishes to get where she needs to be in time."

"...But you won't remember this?" She asked, hesitantly moving closer to Shizuru again, still not quite able to understand how her best friend could be here with her real enough to touch, but somehow she wasn't really physically aware in quite the same way that Natsuki was. _Or perhaps she is... it's not like I know what happens when I wake up from one of these do I? Do I remember everything from what happened to tell me about Alyssa being in peril for the first place?_ As always when she tried to concentrate on that experience the specifics of the memory seemed to scurry away from her conscious mind, only hints of their presence remaining.

Shizuru shook her head, again smiling more warmly at Natsuki, "Only one thing."

The Slayer ran a careful hand over Shizuru's jaw, careful not to get any of the paint on herself on her friend's pale skin, "I think I remember it too..." She said softly, leaning in and capturing Shizuru's lightly pouting bottom lip between her own, gently biting down on the sweet tasting flesh. She smiled inwardly as Shizuru whimpered happily and wrapped her arms tightly around Natsuki, as though needing the support so that she could continue to stand in the face of pleasurable feelings. For long minutes Natsuki continued to kiss her beloved friend, caressing her mouth and tongue with her own and drawing strength for what would probably be a long lonely journey ahead of her. Finally when the sense of urgency to complete her mission here became too great, she reluctantly pulled back, watching Shizuru's flushed cheeks and the way she was breathing so heavily with satisfaction. "I have to go." She said mournfully, running her fingers through Shizuru's soft hair that was pleasantly warm from the sunlight.

Shizuru nodded sadly, "I know. I will stay here to keep Natsuki's pet safe. I promise no harm will come to her."

Natsuki gave Shizuru one more brief kiss in thanks, "Make sure that you don't get hurt either."

"I promise, if only because as long as I have had them, I have never been hurt by a dream." Shizuru said with a smirk.

"You joke now, but remember how I ended up in the hospital last time yah?"

"True... but Natsuki's dream was not a dream." Shizuru replied cryptically, her eyes wistful.

Natsuki snorted with amusement, though a vague memory tickled at her mind of yellow feline eyes and a huge red and black sword. "Nothing is ever as it seems for me anymore." Natsuki turned to gaze out over the flat grasslands, the darkness on the eastern horizon seemed to ripple as though it were alive, but it was probably just the heat distorting her view. She had never felt so unprepared for a journey, but it only seemed appropriate that she would be required to venture into the unknown here with nothing but her own body and wits to help her achieve the impossible. "Alright wish me luck." Natsuki said confidently squeezing Shizuru's hand lightly.

"Mhmm. I know I shall see Natsuki again tomorrow, she has no need of luck." Shizuru replied with even more confidence in Natsuki than the Slayer had in herself. Shizuru hugged her most important person close to her once more, before very reluctantly releasing the slender girl and watching with almost painful longing in her red eyes as Natsuki simply turned and walked away into the sweltering hot primitive wilderness. The flatness of the plain was such that Natsuki did not disappear over the horizon, but all too soon the tall grasses and rippling air thick from the sweltering heat were enough to obscure the movement of the Slayer's small form. Shizuru continued to watch the eastern grasses for a moment, her eyes narrowing slightly and a mysterious smile forming on her full lips before she turned and headed back into the rocky shelter to escape the heat and watch over the other that her most important person cared for.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

Natsuki had been trudging through the tall dry grasses for what felt like hours when the darkness on the horizon finally began to appear closer, resolving itself from a vague green into individual trees. It was still hot, the sun seemed to keep its position high in the sky overhead not venturing any closer to the western horizon despite the Natsuki's long journey, and the Slayer's body was covered in a layer of sticky salt from the rapidly evaporating sweat that still moistened her skin. And she was so hungry; rarely did Natsuki have to go so long between meals, especially when she was engaged in any sort of strenuous activity. And even though she was only walking at a fairly normal pace, the extreme heat made any activity out here in this grassy wilderness strenuous. More annoyingly, the surprisingly sharp blades of dried grass had made countless shallow scratches on her bare legs that were now red and swollen and itched uncomfortably. It took all of her willpower not to scratch at them and make them worse.

The Slayer found herself staring longingly at the plump wildebeest and antelope feeding on the tall grasses, imagining that she lived in these prehistoric wilds and that the purpose of her journey was something less dire. How nice it would be if she were making this trek to hunt for meat instead; she would surely be able to take down that impressive looking bull with his huge horns. She could just picture dragging it home to her cave and the two sweet females she cared for making all of them a most satisfying feast; and the way that both Mai and Shizuru would make a fuss over her skill at hunting, easing the soreness in her tired muscles in the most pleasant ways... Suddenly she pictured herself as some sort of prehistoric Neanderthal Slayer, and found the thought of her more beastly and fuzzy self both unappealing and silly.

Snorting quietly in amusement at the fanciful wanderings of her overheated brain, Natsuki finally stepped out of the open grassland and under the first of the tall jungle trees, picking her way carefully beneath the thick undergrowth. She was finally out of the baking direct sunlight, but if anything it felt even hotter here in the dense shade of the forest, the moisture from the plants making the air so thick and humid that breathing it felt like drowning. The air was alive with the sound of the beating wings of insects, and echoing down from the tall canopy she could hear the cries of animals living high up in the sunlit treetops out of sight from the darkened jungle floor. As she ventured deeper into the forest, the reason for the sudden increase in vegetation became clear, as she could hear the cheerful sound of swift running water travelling over rock. Her dry throat ached painfully at the wonderful sound, and Natsuki found herself irresistibly drawn to it.

The resilient Slayer forced her way through the even thicker plants surrounding the stream, their broad green leaves taking advantage of the extra moisture and the break in the heavy trees that allowed them to catch a bit of sunlight for themselves. She kept her eyes downward to watch her step, as the simple sandals she wore provided much less protection than her normal boots would against the bites of the numerous likely venomous reptiles patrolling the forest floor that she saw several fleeting glimpses of as she made her way closer to the sound of the running water. When she reached the steep rocky banks of the small river, Natsuki gasped in surprise when she finally felt safe enough to glance up and take in the sight before her. The rough fast moving water was actually running towards her instead of to the side as she had thought, its stream disappearing underground as its path reached the rock beneath her feet.

Carefully the Slayer made her way down to the water; anxious to replace some of the moisture she had been losing rapidly due to her body's desperate attempts to cool itself through sweating. Eagerly she knelt next to the fast moving water and cupping her hands she brought heavenly mouthfuls of the pleasantly cool tangy liquid to her mouth, drinking it down quickly. She had a brief worry that drinking this wild untreated water could cause her to come down with a nasty case of dysentery, but quickly convinced herself that she was a Slayer so surely her immune system must be strong enough to fight off such petty concerns. After drinking her fill until her stomach practically sloshed with water, Natsuki's green eyes glinted with greed when she spotted a nearby tree whose low hanging branches were heavy with a soft skinned orange fruit and despite her stomach being full up with water Natsuki felt it grumbling eagerly at the tempting sight. Smiling she quickly scaled back up the steep stone river bank, her now cooled and hydrated muscles readily responding to the task she set to them.

Happily chewing on a mouthful of the succulent orange fruit, she was finally able to turn her mind to concerns that had less to do with her immediate comfort, and sharp green eyes now took in their surroundings more carefully. Reaching up to gather a few more of the fruits to carry with her on her journey, the Slayer took a frightened step backwards when she noticed the heavy muscular coils of a large snake resting on the branch. Its dark chocolate brown scales softly reflected the faint sunlight; with scales a lighter tan colour making beautiful intricate rounded patterns along the animal's lazily coiled body. From the shallow pits along the mouth of its broad rounded head, Natsuki found herself easily identifying the beautiful reptile as some sort of python and breathed a sigh of relief that the animal wasn't venomous. Sure her Slayer-reflexes probably meant that she could easily get a high paying job with the Discovery Channel being a super hot chick who wrangled snakes for their drooling viewers; but even if she regularly faced dangers most could never imagine, Natsuki didn't fancy that as a particularly intelligent pastime.

She blinked in surprise as the large snake nudged the juicy looking fruit nearest its head, staring unblinkingly into Natsuki's eyes with its own hauntingly red orbs. Natsuki found herself blushing slightly, feeling suddenly like Eve from the Christian mythology being tempted by the serpent, and a curious feeling of warmth gathered in her stomach when those mysterious red eyes seemed to glint with amusement at her embarrassment. "Thanks." She said quietly to the eye-catching reptile, picking the fruits near it she was still surprised when the animal nodded its broad head in acknowledgement. She had always heard that snakes had very poor vision, but still she followed its gaze when it turned its head to the side and gazed significantly at the land upriver from the fruit tree. Her heart started beating faster in apprehension at the sight of a large stone cliff thrusting upwards into the sky several kilometres in the distance, the thin waterfall of the river plummeting over its side appearing to smoke with mist. "I suppose that's where I need to go." She pondered aloud, no longer shocked when the animal nodded again, as though it knew the purpose of her journey here. And perhaps it did; this was after all a mythical realm of sorts, even if it looked so much like home. "Thanks again." She said awkwardly to the snake, again starting her trek, staying in sight of the water as she headed up river so that she would not lose her way. As she walked she could glimpse hints of glinting dark scales travelling beside her through the heavy undergrowth, making her more and more curious as to the nature of the mysterious reptile.

Natsuki travelled as quickly as she dared through the forest towards the foreboding towering rock face, along a path cleared out by a large animal that she had seen no other signs of. As she walked she ate the fruits that she carried with her, since she had no pack in which to store them and wasn't sure if she would be lucky enough to find anything else edible once she once she reached her next destination, if indeed there was not yet further to travel once she did. The Slayer soon found that the towering cliff was farther away and larger than it had appeared from the place down river where the water disappeared from the surface and underneath the rocks, and felt certain that she must have walked for over an hour before she finally rested her hands on its cool reddish brown surface.

Her stomach felt uneasy with vertigo as she stared at up at the edge of the sheer cliff towering above her, wondering how she was supposed to climb the purely vertical rock. She walked alongside the cliff, trailing her rough fingers over the moist stone and blinking in surprise when her sensitive skin encountered an indentation in the rock about six centimetres deep, just wide enough for her to be able to grip onto it with her smallish hands. She looked up the cliff, and not a third of a metre higher she noticed another indentation and the small dents seemed to travel up as high as her eyes could see; it was as though they were handholds carved out specifically to aid a human female in climbing up to the tall flat summit.

The fear of scaling the immense cliff made Natsuki stand still, her neck aching from staring upwards until she growled angrily in disgust with herself, her fear of the inanimate rock an intolerable weakness; never mind that even a Slayer could be fatally injured if she fell from such a great height, particularly with all of the trees and rocks below. Deciding that she'd already wasted too much time on pointless fear, she crouched slightly and jumped, the powerful muscles in her legs easily carrying her metres into the air. She slammed into the stone wall, her arms flexing as she gripped onto two of the handholds her feet scrambling desperately at the rock for purchase before finally finding their own holds, one of them already slipping slightly as it encountered loose sliding pebbles inside its hold. Gritting her teeth she wasted no time pulling herself upwards, quickly placing her feet in the holds occupied by her hands, making sure to clear out the small slippery bits of dust from each hold with her fingers before moving higher, staring only at the holds a little bit above her instead of up or down, not wanting to know either how far she had left to climb or how high off the ground she now was.

It wasn't long before her arms and legs ached, she couldn't remember the last time she had really pushed her endurance like this and she made a note to herself to ask Midori about setting up a more intensive training schedule when she got home. _If I even remember any of this._ Hesitantly she glanced upwards, her vision spinning slightly again as she leaned closer to the hard rock, gripping more tightly to her precarious hand holds. She still had a third of the way to climb, and she knew that if she glanced down she would want to throw up because she was certainly already up much higher than her entire dorm building was tall. Natsuki rested her forehead on the rough rock, taking a few shaky breaths before continuing her careful upward climb. Finally after what seemed like an eternity of climbing Natsuki used one last burst of strength to pull her exhausted body up onto the top of the cliff, laying flat on her back and just breathing heavily for long minutes, the reddish sun still directly overhead after so much travelling making her feel more and more uneasy.

Movement out of the corner of her eye caused her to turn her head to the left, and she blinked in surprise when she saw the dark brown snake sliding on its belly towards her. How could the large animal have gotten up here? The heavy bodied snake certainly could not have made the steep climb up the cliff, but yet it she could tell from the red eyes glinting with uncanny intelligence that this was the same animal. For long moments they stared into each other's eyes, something ancient passing between them until Natsuki noticed with curiosity that even though she was no longer breathing hard from exertion, each breath still burned faintly in her chest and sniffing the air carefully she became aware of a foul noxious odour.

Curious, Natsuki rolled onto her stomach. Rising to her knees eyes wide in amazement as she stared out over an inexplicably a large lake on top of the flat plateau. Steam rose in wispy plumes from the centre of the lake, great geysers of superheated water spouting up from tall yellowish columns of crystallized minerals. _Probably sulphur... damn that explains why the water I drank in the stream at the bottom was slightly tangy I guess._ Natsuki thought with fascination, now surprised that the water in the stream had seemed like mostly normal freshwater, though the water at the edges of the lake did seem to be pure and clear instead of a murky white like that at its centre. She was amazed to see that the heat of the Earth under her was still breaking through the surface at such a high elevation, and she wondered if maybe there was something more than just this one planet's own still molten interior causing the disturbance.

The dark cone of a volcano suddenly rising from the centre of the lake and toppling the fragile geysers answered her question for her, the summit of its frighteningly quick growing tower of rock seemingly pulled up into the sky by some unseen force. Great splashes of orange hot molten iron fell sizzling into the lake, in mere moments obscuring her direct view of the new angry formation with thick white clouds of steam, though the bright glow of bleeding lava was still easily seen glancing off of the water vapour. Obviously this wasn't a purely naturally occurring formation. _Of course it isn't... this is supposed to be a test of bravery._ Natsuki thought sarcastically, staring with great apprehension at the rocky path that rose out of the water along with the volcano, leading from where she stood to the base of the new mountain thrusting itself up ever higher into the clouds. The sides of the path sizzled where it touched the strongly acidic lake, and she could tell from the clouds of vaporized noxious liquid shrouding it that breathing the air over the lake would be painful. But what choice did she have? She couldn't turn back now.

Letting out a resigned sigh Natsuki rose reluctantly to her feet and began making her way across the narrow path, looking down when she suddenly felt something bump against her leg. She was almost surprised that she was surprised at all with how strange this place was, but there behind her was the dark coloured snake following her determinedly into certain danger. "You really shouldn't be following me. It's going to be really hard to even breathe over there, and I don't know what else we might find." Natsuki reasoned with the strange reptile, sighing when the animal continued to simply stare at her, going as far as to raise the front part of its body up from the ground so that it could better look her in the eye. _I didn't know pythons could even do that..._ _and those eyes... they seem so familiar._ "I guess there's no convincing you to turn back?" The snake gave the impression of shaking its head, and if Natsuki didn't know better she would have sworn that it smirked teasingly at her. "...Alright then. Um... would you at least agree to me carrying you? The rock is wet, and the water on it is almost certainly dangerous enough to burn your scales." The Slayer offered helpfully, smiling when the animal moved closer to her and allowed her to get her hands under part of its thick belly and start lifting its impressive bulk from the ground. She again felt a strange warmth inside as the python began coiling its long body around her arms and torso, its muscles gripping at her pleasantly until its broad head was resting on her shoulder. She blushed slightly as a long dry forked tongue flicked affectionately at her chin. Still the Slayer grinned at somehow having made friends with such an interesting creature, running her hands over the soft sun-warmed scales in fascination.

But her momentary pleasant distraction from the task at hand was cut short by a low rumbling roar originating in the centre of the hellish lake, and Natsuki swallowed hard as her eyes strained to make out what could be producing the sound, but her view was still completely obscured by the superheated fog. Every sane thought was screaming at her to turn around and get out of here, but the proud warrior in the Slayer refused to allow a retreat. Squaring her shoulders Natsuki again began her careful trek across the slippery stone pathway; the snake's coils gripping more tightly around her as they finally stepped into the burning fog. "I sure hope I know what I'm doing. You really should have listened to me and left while you could." She said apologetically to her reptilian friend, smiling despite her fear when the forked tongue again flicked out at her. Natsuki hoped that both of them would make it out of this alive. Alyssa and Mai depended on her success here; failure was not an option even in the face of these impossible odds. _What the hell was I thinking?_


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: You know, I'm starting to feel like one of those philosopher/mathematicians from the time before we humans collectively figured out calculus. I realized a while back that there was a certain distance to go until I finished this instalment of the fic... yet I keep dividing in half the distance and somehow even though the end is much closer now than it was at the beginning it seems infinitely further away. But don't you worry readers! The sexy and powerful ʃ is here, and she's going to help us find the area under that curve. ^.^

Also this fic, not unlike ʃ, is now rated M. So don't complain to me if you see something that can't be unseen. -.o ...or actually do. I crave feedback, even if you just want to tell me how my twisted mind has scared you for life. ^.^ K! On with the show!

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

Mai was sleeping. She knew that she was sleeping, since she remembered vividly the sensation of falling into a cold, crushing darkness at the end of the spell she and Natsuki had performed. But although she was aware of part of her situation that should cause her a degree of urgency, her current dream was so pleasant that Mai couldn't quite yet bring herself to wake. It was so real though.

In her dream Mai was laying on her back in her bed at the dorm. That was the way she almost always went to sleep these days. When she was much younger she had preferred to sleep on her stomach, but recent... _developments,_ had made that sleeping position much less comfortable than it used to be. Still, as comfortable as her warm bed was compared to the damp coolness of the cave where they cast the spell... That was not the thing that was making her want to stay in her dream just a little bit longer. No, it was Natsuki. Always Natsuki, who even here in her dreams seemed to hold power over her like no other. Natsuki was slightly different than normal as she lay next to Mai, as people and things in dreams often are; but also like is often the case in a dream, those differences seemed to make perfect sense when viewed through the distorted lens of Mai's unconscious mind.

Familiar green eyes were darkened to a shade of amber that somehow served to make Natsuki look even more predatory than their normal vivid colour and her hair seemed rougher in texture as it brushed against Mai's bare skin. The witch blushed as she realized she was naked. She still felt much too insecure about her relationship with Natsuki to go this far, at least not without something happening so that her inhibitions would be more than a bit lowered anyway. ...But it was just a dream. So what could be the harm of enjoying Natsuki's touch on her bare skin just a little?

Mai had only just formed the thought that she might consent to some intimate touches before trying again to waken. But before she could give voice to her thoughts, strong yet gentle hands were already sliding teasingly up along her ribcage and Natsuki's snub nose was nuzzled affectionately into the small warm hollow behind her earlobe. Mai shivered with a mixture of arousal and a pleasant sort of fear. The Slayer never waited for her consent. It had been given once in the heat of the moment, and apparently that was all that was needed for Natsuki to assume it was always given. Granted this was a dream but in this case the dream was simply mirroring reality. She was certain that if she just said she didn't want to allow Natsuki such liberties, her demanding love interest would immediately stop... but Mai couldn't ever bring herself to actually say the words. _Mostly because you know you wouldn't mean them. Better to enjoy the present, my likely future broken heart be damned._

She whimpered softly at the feeling of a hot and wet tongue sliding over her earlobe. A calloused hand possessively kneaded one of her generous breasts not unlike a huge kitten searching for milk, as sharp teeth gently grazed the sensitive skin of her ear. The other hand was simply curled under her thigh, but fingertips sliding teasingly along the slightly ticklish skin made her legs spread just enough to allow Natsuki to shift so that her body was resting between them. Mai gripped desperately at the Slayer's back as silky smooth skin over hard abs slid effortlessly against her centre that was already practically dripping. How could she even pretend that she wouldn't always consent? Mai shuddered as she arched against the Slayer's body, now desperate for relief.

...But it was a only dream. And as often happens in dreams, just when one is finally getting to the really good part, some little niggling bit of reality will intrude. And then no matter how much one would like to ignore it and simply continue their pleasurable dream until its climax, reality ruthlessly makes the dream greyer and less vivid. It refuses to be ignored.

When Mai's amazing dream was rudely interrupted however, she didn't feel only the inevitable frustration that anyone would feel. She also felt no small bit of fear. Because her brain was trying to warn her that not all of the sensations of someone touching her bare skin were products of her heated imagination. There was a very real feeling of rough skin sliding and flexing pleasurably against her own. And her now extra sensitive nose identified strange scents that she didn't associate with Natsuki, most prominently a faint cinnamon that tingled pleasantly as entered her airway. The witch's heart started pounding almost painfully in her chest as she realized that there was something... not right about the body resting against her. It was easily heavier than Natsuki's light form, but it was coiled and its muscles rippled in a way that was distinctly inhuman.

Mai's body now trembled for a completely different reason and she found that she was utterly unable to move. She was caught somewhere in the space between fight and flight, feeling the desperate need to do both but able to do neither. Never had she gone so quickly from blissful sleep to waking heart stopping fear, but even if she was no Slayer, Mai wasn't one to simply accept a fate she didn't want. Hesitantly she slowly opened her eyes, trying her best to make sure she didn't make any sudden movements. A scream tried to flee from her throat at the sight that greeted her, but she ruthlessly swallowed it down as her now wide blue eyes took in the huge snake coiled lazily on what seemed to be a primitive bed with her. For a fleeting moment she dared to hope that she hadn't actually awoken and that this was simply her dream morphed into a nightmare, but the new sensations were exactly the same as the ones that drew her from her dream and the primal survival instinct inside her was absolutely certain of the reality. Mai also became vaguely aware that she was in some sort of cave. It was clearly a different cave from the one she fell unconscious in since it was also almost swelteringly hot. However compared to the fearsome beast coiled against her, those details seemed less than irrelevant.

Unlike many of the more stereotypical girls that she had been friends with before meeting Natsuki, Mai had never considered herself to be particularly frightened of snakes. Surely some of them were dangerous but she always considered them much more reasonable creatures to look at when compared to spiders or other bugs. But now she thought that perhaps her complacency had been due to snakes in Japan not getting quite this big, and her brain quickly re-evaluated its list of things that she needed to be frightened of.

At least the huge snake wasn't moving much, the sensation of its skin sliding against her own seemed to come more from the massive creature's breathing than anything else. In fact it seemed almost peaceful as it rested with her. Its broad head lay on her bare chest and some of its coils draped across her stomach and legs, while most of the massive beast trailed onto the makeshift bed beside her, its tail doubled back on itself such that it rested along Mai's side. The lightly twitching tip occasionally tickled at her ribcage, mirroring almost perfectly the sensation of Natsuki's teasing touch in her dream. Her stomach turned as she felt how the soft supple skin under the massive reptile's chin was rubbing in a disturbing way against her nipple that was still stimulated from earlier with each breath she took.

However despite its unnerving proximity, the snake didn't seem to have any overly sinister intentions toward her. Indeed its body language gave Mai every indication that the great beast was actually sleeping, even though large reddish eyes stared unblinkingly into her own. She recalled vaguely from somewhere that snakes didn't even have eyelids though... so perhaps it was asleep, but her human mind couldn't quite believe that faced with such an intimidating creature.

When long frightening moments passed and she still hadn't been eaten, Mai finally calmed down enough to start to appreciate that it was actually a fairly pretty looking animal. ...Even if it had even less understanding of the concept of personal space than Natsuki did. Most of its body was a pale sandy brown colour, with large splotches of a reddish mahogany that were brought into sharper relief with a small outline of black. Sharp scales almost like eyelashes ringed the top edge of those large rounded red eyes that were set inside one of the darker splotches, making the relative lightness of the iris stand out more against the darker background. A line of small indentations that she couldn't identify also ran along the creature's upper jaw and Mai smiled as the whole effect served to remind her of the curious tiny dragon that she had encountered during one of her first real experiences with powerful magicks. The snake though easily dwarfed the little dragon, and even she felt somewhat small next to its bulk. Those muscled coils would easily be able to crush the life from her if it decided it wanted to... if the snake wasn't venomous or something. Mai didn't know enough about the animals to know for certain and she wished that Natsuki were here because her friend would surely be able to tell her. ...Of course if Natsuki were here she also wouldn't have to worry about this snake at all since the Slayer would surely be able to take care of it for her.

Still, even if Mai wasn't a Slayer she was far from helpless. The witch raised her chin defiantly as she searched what seemed a pitifully small arsenal of spells, trying to find one that would allow her to put some distance between herself and the animal without making it upset or killing it outright. After all it was just an animal and hadn't really tried to hurt her. It probably didn't understand her human modesty and it almost certainly wasn't acting this way simply to make her uncomfortable. However before she could even settle on a spell that might be helpful, something happened that forced her to again rapidly re-evaluate her current situation.

_The Slayer's pet is most thoughtful to not wish us harm... but why does she wish us to move at all? She never complains when her owner wishes to be close to her._ The voice that sounded in Mai's mind was smooth, lilting and distinctly feminine. It was also vaguely familiar in a way Mai's fragmented thoughts couldn't place.

Startled by the reptile's unexpected show of almost human intelligence Mai suddenly found strength and speed she didn't realize she had. In one move she lifted the snake's large bulk from her body and was on the far side of the small primitively decorated cave almost before she had drawn another breath. Her heart pounded quickly as she turned to face the creature, pale hands glowing lightly orange as her magicks responded to the potential threat.

_And suddenly now that I can speak my touch is more repulsive to the pet than it was before? _The voice questioned, seeming to almost pout theatrically at Mai's rejection.

"Before I knew you could speak I thought maybe you didn't realize what you were doing." Mai said accusatorily, "But you must have known that you were making me uncomfortable."

The snake hid her face under one of her heavy coils, her long forked tongue flicking out from under them, _I wasn't going to... but I was curious to see why the Slayer was so interested in the pet. I must admit I can see why she would be attracted to this one... so warm and soft._

"Yeah... well I don't know how it works for reptiles, but normally we humans prefer a minimum amount of time to get to know each other before we move on to naked touching."

_Is that so? _ The snake again slid so that its red eyes could gaze up into hers, now obviously glinting with an intelligence beyond that of a mere reptile. Mai suddenly realized that its presence might have something to do with the spell she and Natsuki cast working. Could this be part of the trial somehow? She'd thought that only Natsuki would need to be an active participant and she merely offering assistance. _From what I understand, the pet has not known the Slayer all that long._ _Though I will admit she is rather charming, so I could see where one might be willing to make compromises for her sake._

The animal's words stung Mai more than she thought they would and she crossed her arms defensively over her chest, trying to at least conceal part of her nakedness from those piercing red eyes. It was as though the creature was accusing her of being some slut who was only interested in the pleasure Natsuki could give, when here she was risking her very life and soul for something the Slayer believed in. And also... Mai's lowered her eyes to the floor, unable to hold the animal's intense stare any longer her voice barely louder than a whisper as she replied in meek tones that disgusted her. "Well even she hasn't seen me naked yet..." Growling at her weakness Mai continued more strongly and confidently, "And it's not just because she's beautiful that I care for her. She's a really kind and wonderful person. Anyone who spent time with her could see that." Feeling the rightness of her conviction she again found those uncanny eyes with her own, brave enough to even let a little of her normal quirky personality out to play. "Plus it helps that we're the same species."

_Is the pet certain she wouldn't compromise just this once? I am the rich and powerful ruler of my own empire. I could give the pet security that her owner could never hope to._ The snake asked hopefully, edging closer to the witch, seemingly unafraid of the dangerous magicks the witch wielded.

"...look even if I was that open minded I would never do something like that to hurt Natsuki." Mai defended herself diplomatically, backing away nervously from the advancing creature. "I mean... I'm willing to compromise if it was something she wanted. For some reason I recently helped her spend some time with another girl that she's in love with... but I'd still never give up whatever time I get to spend with her. She means too much to me for that."

At her defiant words suddenly the intensity of the snake's stare seemed to lessen and their colour faded to a less unnerving rust. _It seems that the pet is unexpectedly loyal. She doesn't take handouts from anyone but her Master._

Mai nodded in agreement, not even thinking to dispute her status as being Natsuki's. After all that is what she felt like sometimes with her willingness to allow the Slayer almost anything. "She means more to me than anyone but my little brother. I'm here aren't I? I wouldn't be here if I didn't."

_My apologies._ And the creature's tone of voice did sound apologetic. _I care for her as well... and for the pet too I suppose sense she is something that the Slayer cares for._ _...That is why _I _am here as well._

"Wait... you know Natsuki as more than simply the person doing the spirit quest? Who are you? Can you help me find her?" Mai asked all at once, deciding all at once that she would trust this strange creature. Surely it had been mostly rude to Mai... but there was something so familiar about the mysterious snake and the way it seemed so obsessed with Natsuki. With a relieved sigh she felt some of the tension in her body from her rude awakening receding and her now relaxed blue eyes drifted around the small cave. She smiled as she finally noticed some of the more personal touches to the place, the crudely painted female warrior on the wall reminding her a bit of the apparently missing Slayer. "Where exactly are we anyway?"

_You really do care about her don't you?_ Mai looked sharply back at the snake, the wistful, almost mournful tone to the reptile's mental voice at the revelation striking a chord with her.

"I do... It seems silly I guess that she already means so much to me, but the more I get to know her the more I realize how amazing she is..." She smiled warmly as she remembered how Natsuki was always inquiring after her little brother when most of her friends from junior high never seemed to comprehend how much she worried about him. The way Natsuki was so completely invested in saving Alyssa even before she knew they were sisters had really touched Mai as well, and Mai knew that the Slayer's intensely protective nature and her own tendency to care about people too much meant that they just understood each other on a basic level. She closed her eyes for a moment as she pictured the enthusiastic grin Natsuki got when she won at a videogame or something that was just for fun, remembering that the Slayer had the same grin on her face when she'd dusted two vampires on patrol last night. Mai realized that no matter how difficult Natsuki's life might seem to an outsider, she was still so passionate about everything she did. Things that most would view as a burden seemed to be almost badges of honour for the intense dark haired protector.

"I really respect her. I suppose I could be cheesy yet honest and say that she's sortof my hero... but she's more human than that. I don't know... I mean I know she's not perfect, and that she doesn't care for me exclusively the way I do her... but the more I'm around her the more those things seem like insignificant obstacles for me to put up with for a chance to be close to her." Mai shrugged helplessly, reluctantly leaving her memories behind for now and opening her eyes to again look at her strange inquisitor. "I mean, she doesn't treat being Chosen for something so dangerous as a burden at all... but I can't help but feel like she deserves whatever I can offer to make her happy you know? The potential risk of getting hurt in the process seems completely worth it. ...I love her." She finished her declaration somewhat nervously. After all she wouldn't really expect someone who knew her to understand this reasoning; much less a total stranger who wasn't even human and likely wasn't even from Earth as she knew it. ...But the snake had said it somehow knew and cared about Natsuki. If she'd really meant that, surely she would understand. Mai just couldn't see how someone could know Natsuki well and not love her at least a little, even if they weren't as inclined towards emotionally self sacrificing behaviours.

For a moment Mai thought that she'd actually managed to break the creature in some way with only her words without even having to cast a single spell. The snake simply lay staring at her silently for long moments, and Mai shifted uncomfortably since those unblinking eyes made it impossible for her to guess what it might be thinking. _You are right of course. Surely it would be impossible to not fall in love with her._ The creature finally replied in the same wistful tone.

"...well can you take me to her?" Mai asked hesitantly, she still was not sure what to make of the snake's almost mournful tones, but more than that she was worried about what could be happening to Natsuki right now.

_I'm afraid I can't do that._

"Why not?" Blue eyes narrowed suspiciously.

_It is not because I would not want you to help her. I do not consider myself so selfish that I cannot acknowledge that the Slayer would be much safer with her pet by her side._

"...Then why...?"

_Because the closer in proximity you are to her in this realm, the farther you will drift from your own. And then both of you could become lost here, unable to get home. Your bodies would die._

"So now I have to just sit here and do nothing while she's in danger?" Mai asked incredulously, "I agreed to this because I wanted to help her!"

_You already are helping her. Without your presence here the Slayer would already be lost. _It sounded to Mai as though it pained the snake greatly to admit this, and she frowned slightly despite its assurances that she wasn't completely useless here. Why was this creature so hostile about her closeness with Natsuki?

"Surely there must be _something_ I can do to help her without getting too close and breaking my connection with our world." Mai pleaded, even though she hardly expected the animal to want to help... it seemed like it really didn't like her. 

_I already told you that I am not that selfish. I refuse to let something happen to a person so important to me simply because I have no wish to help my competition._

"Sorry...I know you said you care about her." Mai apologized, not really surprised that the creature could read her thoughts if it was already speaking to her telepathically. "I just don't understand why you would be upset with me... you and I don't even really know each other. And how do you know Natsuki? Is it because she's the Slayer?"

_...Indirectly. I suppose you could say I know her because of that._ The snake slid fully to the floor, moving toward Mai much quicker than the witch would have expected, the creature's powerful muscles making it simply glide over the dusty rocky floor of the cave. As it reached her it raised the front part of its body from the ground, allowing Mai to get a greater appreciation for its huge size as with not even a third of its bulk off the ground the massive snake now looked her in the eye. _The Slayer's pet asks far too many questions, I refuse to answer more. _The snake's tone was now extremely annoyed and Mai nodded agreeably, suddenly not so sure of her magicks when she was all alone with an angry creature that could easily kill her. _There is one in this place who wished to meet you. He says that He regretted only getting to see you for a short while the last time you met. He wanted you to know that He understood what the Slayer had to do... but He still misses you._

"...Kagutsuchi." Mai breathed, remembering the soft affectionate purr of the tiny dragon, knowing immediately that He was the one the snake spoke of. The dragon's name had simply come to her as she petted his soft scales during the spell that she cast with Midori and Yohko, and she'd felt a deep connection to the little creature that she had no explanation for or even words to describe. "He's here? And you make it sound like he's met me more than once?"

_The pet would not remember the other time. It was beyond the reach of her current mind's memory. _The snake replied cryptically before ordering her impatiently. _Come with me pet, his home is not far from here._

"Um... just one second." Mai pleaded, desperately searching around the small shelter for some scrap of clothing to cover at least part of her naked and vulnerable body. It had been bad enough with only the uncanny eyes of her new reptilian friend taking her in appraisingly. Finally she noticed a long crudely made shirt of sorts on the floor next to the large pile of skulls. Walking over to it she bent down carefully, hyper aware of red eyes on her body as she did so. She blushed from the feeling of being so exposed, but she felt even more embarrassed when she realized that the light grey shirt she was now putting on was made of shed snake skins.

_The pet does look nice all wrapped up in me._ The smooth and approving voice seemed to tease her as the snake again moved toward her, now wrapping its strong bulk tightly around her legs as its head and neck slid up her side. _I wonder how the pet would feel if her owner let me borrow her just for a little while. Would she do as her Master ordered and let me have some fun with her too?_

Mai's blush was almost painful now as she stared speechlessly into those now intensely red eyes again. "...I ...she wouldn't!" She protested, not believing for a moment that Natsuki would abuse her trust like that. But if she did... if Natsuki really wanted her to do something like that... would Mai be willing to go that far to make the Slayer happy? She shivered slightly when she realized she already knew the answer to that question, and red eyes seemed to glint knowingly as strong coils gripped at her more tightly. Mai stared into the animal's eyes defiantly despite continuing to blush at her new revelation of just how much she was willing to compromise herself for Natsuki. "So are we going?"She asked, her hands flexing impatiently eager to be doing _something_ so that she didn't feel like she was just waiting around being useless.

_Of course. I suppose it would not do for us to take too much longer on our own amusements. _The snake conceded, again seeming to ignore Mai's intense discomfort with their situation. Quickly it unwrapped its long body from around her, its muscles rippling supply against the soft, pale skin of her legs. The strong tail slapped against her foot as it moved off towards the primitive animal hide flap that served to make the small shelter marginally more protected from the weather outside. Not waiting for Mai to follow it simply slid under it and into the sunlight. Mai was forced to run a short ways out of the cave to catch up to the snake before it disappeared from sight in the tall grass, the rough ground painful on the sensitive skin of her feet. _Good girl_. The snake praised her patronisingly; _It's good to see that you will be able to keep up with me out here._

Mai growled softly in her throat, already panting slightly from even her small exertion in the choking heat. Luckily now that she was caught up it was easy enough to simply walk next to the animal, though it was difficult to keep it in sight when she was so tempted to look all around at this vast new and strange world she found herself in. The huge red sun burning in the sky and prehistoric looking versions of animals she had only seen on television combined with the seeming endless expanse of grassland around them made this a place she never dreamed of setting foot in. The position of the sun directly overhead made it impossible for Mai to guess what direction they might be travelling in, and they had only been walking for a short while when already she couldn't make out where the small cave shelter she'd woken up in was behind them. Unless they were travelling on a completely straight path away from it, there was certainly no way that she could get back to it now on her own.

The witch soon lost track of how long they travelled, not at all used to so much exercise and certainly not in such unpleasantly hot weather, it wasn't long before she was concentrating on simply putting one foot in front of the other. Sweat rolled freely down her face and drenched the crude clothing she wore, causing it to cling to her soaked body uncomfortably, and her feet now throbbed painfully from countless cuts. As beautiful and strange as this new land was, all Mai could bring herself to look at was the snake's long body sliding tirelessly in front of her, desperately trying to keep the creature who seemed not to care for her fatigue in sight, now fearful of becoming lost in this suddenly much more frightening wilderness. As she trudged on she slowly became aware of a faint but constant noise in her ears, and she wondered if she was starting to become slightly delirious from the baking heat. She didn't bring the noise to the attention of her now silent travelling companion, because she knew the snake would likely scoff at her weakness and ask how Mai thought herself worthy of someone like Natsuki if she couldn't take the discomfort of a little walk in the sun. From then on, thoughts of Natsuki were what kept her going, after all the Slayer would never give up if she was faced with an unpleasant task, and Mai refused to let her down by giving up if she was still living.

As they walked the noise became louder and louder, until suddenly Mai realized that it couldn't possibly be just in her head. She gasped as she looked up from watching the snake a few meters in front of her to see a vast deep canyon spread out before her, the sheer cliff of its gaping maw only about twenty meters away. She blinked in wonder as she realized the loud noise she heard was a huge waterfall coming from out of a large cave in the cliff face itself, deafeningly pummelling the red orange rocks as it plummeted down into the dizzyingly deep unseen depths below. And then echoing even over the deafening roar of the waterfall, she heard a plaintive keening cry from within the cave and then suddenly a huge creature bigger than any she had ever imagined appeared on a rock in the cave mouth. Before she could get a good look at it, it seemed to dive over the edge and her breath caught in her throat with worry before moments later it again rose into the air, its huge leathery wings catching the thermals rising up from the hot rock on the canyon floor.

Mai gasped in pure awe at the sight of Kagutsuchi in his true form, since she would recognize the dragon anywhere. He still had the same glistening leathery white skin and large yellow eyes that she could make out even from this distance, though she noticed with an irresistible smile that he was quickly approaching them. _I'm going to go off and give the two of you some time to get reacquainted. ...And there are other things I need to attend to._ The snake notified her, and before Mai could acknowledge its words, when she looked for it the large animal was simply _gone._ But her confusion at the snake's sudden disappearance was quickly forgotten as Kagutsuchi landed his bulky body near enough to Mai to touch with surprising agility and grace, the gust of wind from his massive wings as he folded them primly on his back feeling wonderful on her sweaty and overheated skin.

"Hey." She said in a hushed voice, hesitantly resting her hand on one of his massive talons, as though a tiny human like her could somehow scare away the dragon. "I'm so glad to see that you're alright." She said sincerely, searching a large golden eye as Kagutsuchi lowered his massive head onto the ground next to her. "I'm so sorry about what happened with that spell." She said apologetically, again scratching at his now much more massive eyeridge. She grinned as he let out a low rumbling purr that shook the ground slightly around them, leaning his huge head into her touch hard enough that Mai almost fell to the ground laughing. "Hey big guy, you have to be more careful with me now that you're not small enough to sit in my lap anymore." She scolded, giggling again when the dragon keened softly in apology. Then as if remembering something that she couldn't recall, he again nudged her with his head, but this time far more carefully, lowering his large body completely do the ground and rolling a rounded and muscled shoulder towards her. "What is it cutie?" She asked softly, not knowing exactly what he wanted.

He again made that keening noise, far too pitiful sounding for a creature of his size, and shifted so that his large cheek was pressed against her back, gently nudging her toward his shoulder. "...You want me to pet you there?" The dragon snorted loudly, shaking his massive head as dark smoke billowed out of quivering nostrils. Then as though remembering something from a past so distant she had somehow forgotten it completely, Mai realized what he wanted, and she hesitantly climbed up onto his offered forearm until she was sitting astride the dragon's shoulders as though he were nothing more than a friendly pony. Another satisfied deep rumbling purr went through his body, and she smiled at how sweet the dragon was to her. He seemed like a lost dog who had finally found his beloved owner after all these years, and she giggled as she had the thought of how amusing it was for a pet like her to have such a large pet of her own.

_I hope you two are done getting reacquainted because Natsuki and I need your help desperately._ The snake's voice sounded loudly in her mind, though even from the great height of the dragon's back she couldn't see the large reptile anywhere.

"Where are you?" She asked aloud wondering if the snake would be able to hear her. "And I thought you said I couldn't be near Natsuki here or we would both die?"

_And if you don't help her right now Natsuki almost certainly _will_ die. It is useless to me if you survive and she does not._ The snake's tone was angered and ruthless as it snarled into Mai's mind.

Still she found herself nodding, its disregard for her life no different from her own at the thought of Natsuki dying. After all, the world needed the Slayer more than it needed Mai. "Just tell me where we need to go." She said confidently, and felt her heart clenching with pure excitement as she felt Kagutsuchi's muscles tighten under her and then suddenly the incredible surge of power as he leaped with all his strength from the ground and into the sky, his huge leathery wings deafening as they made their first down strokes. And then they were flying. The air on her face, blowing her hair back and drying the sweat on her body as they glided through the air was just like she always knew it would be, as though here in the sky was where she truly belonged. She gasped as the picture of where she and Kagutsuchi needed to be appeared in her mind, but she still rubbed her hand soothingly over the neck ridge in front of her as he let out a much more intimidating roar, as though he too now knew where they had to go. _Don't worry Natsuki. I won't let you down, just wait for me._


	22. Chapter 22

DISCLAIMER: Yeah I know I'm slow. But you know what? Winter sucks. And December really sucks. Um... so happy frakking end of 2010. I am oh so very sad to see you go.

So glad to see how many people are still reading this even though it contains characters in situations that may be bothersome to them. -.o Just realize that any complaints about major plot points _probably_ won't get you anywhere unless you log in so that I can get a better idea of what you want. I'm willing to compromise in some areas but not in others, for one reader I even redid major portions of the plotline in these later chapters to try and make it into something they preferred to read. Ultimately though, if what you want is a simple romance between two of our favourite characters where everything and everyone else takes a backseat... You may simply find that this isn't the fic you are looking for and that you should seek another that will leave you feeling less frustrated and unsettled. (For everyone else, I promise never again shall I address this issue. Consider it closed!)

To end this too long AN on a happy note, I hope that everyone got to see the amazingly beautiful lunar eclipse that happened on Monday. I _love_ lunar eclipses, the way the whole moon turns a rusty red colour allowing the stars to come out brightly even when she is shining at full. Especially if you have a decent pair of binoculars it all looks amazing. ^.^ Of course the moon looks lovely through binoculars any night that she's visible, but in eclipses... Let's just say it was well worth freezing my tuchus off for!

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

The slightly winding path through the hellish lake looked much narrower once Natsuki was on it than it had from the shore, and dangerously longer. The Slayer really should have known better than to assume that she could correctly judge the distance to the far side of the lake without any reference point for scale, and now she was paying the price for acting rashly as she always did. Natsuki growled uncomfortably as she felt her eyes start tearing up and her nose running in reaction to the thick fumes coming off of the now furiously boiling lake. Its foul smelling surface churned with yellowish white froth that would be nearly as unpleasant to fall into as the lava further ahead, since someone falling into the acid might live long enough to suffer more than a few moments.

The volcano wasn't spewing too much ash by itself, but the lavaflows were now running at a steady pace into the already boiling lake. The molten rock was so hot that it was a pale orange and only slightly more viscous than the water it was flowing into and it very quickly created even thicker clouds of corrosive sulphuric acid vapour around the new mountain's wide sloping base. In all other directions the huge red sun's rays continued to shine cheerily overhead, uncaring of the new hellish conditions on the strange little planet it warmed.

Just as Natsuki had gotten far enough from the shore that even her Slayer-reflexes wouldn't be able to get her back in time if something were to go wrong, as if on cue the whole plateau began to shake with violent seismic activity. The sound of rocks breaking far below was loud enough to be heard even over the hissing of the boiling water. Natsuki cursed, her voice breaking with the burning pain in her throat that was familiar in an unnerving way. The snake tightened its grip around her, squeezing its coils more snugly but not tight enough to interfere with Natsuki's already laboured breathing. Whether the animal was acting out of fear of their situation or trying to offer Natsuki a vote of confidence she couldn't tell. She had no time to contemplate the strange creature, as the narrow pathway of rock separating her from a most painful death suddenly began shaking even harder and the dark haired hero almost fell to her knees.

As it was she only managed to prevent a dangerous uncontrolled fall by leaping several feet forward and landing in a crouch on the slippery wet and steaming rock, her hands and knees both burning painfully from the heat and strong acid. But she had no choice but to grip desperately to the violently shaking rock, her claws also ripping through her knuckles and trying futilely to find purchase on the slippery surface, their sharp points scraping loudly at the hard stone. The snake's coils now gripped tighter but what might have been uncomfortable under normal circumstances now served to remind her that it wasn't just her own life on the line here. Involuntary tears of pain and irritation streamed down her face as the skin and muscle around her knuckles was burned down to expose the sensitive nerves and tendons underneath when a particularly powerful tremor splashed several millimetres of the deadly liquid across them. The familiar stinging of the fast healing flesh of her knuckles attempting to heal itself soon followed. She knew that her lower centre of gravity might be the only thing keeping her from toppling directly into the lake, but the shaking was growing more violent with each passing second. For precious moments Natsuki was frozen and a sudden primal fear ignited in her as she endured the pain, clinging to the burning rocks with all of her considerable strength, further heightened by her desperation. _Duran, I know I always say I understand what it means to be a Slayer... but I really don't want to die. _

Perhaps a different person would have been tired enough after nearly a decade of constant fighting to want to give up. But Natsuki had so much to live for, so many people who cared about her. Mai, Shizuru... Midori. She swallowed hard as she thought of how much her death would devastate either of the girls she loved; and poor Midori. With all her knowledge her Watcher understood the dangers Natsuki faced better than anyone, but Natsuki knew that Midori would never be ready to face what they both suspected to be the inevitable end of their relationship.

Green eyes were glowing brightly as she finally lifted her head and stared with determination through the thick burning clouds to the newly formed island that was merely a short Slayer-speed sprint away. And despite it being riddled with rivers of melted rock, she strongly suspected that facing whatever manner of evil creatures or spirits lived there was her only way to leave this place. Mai's only way to leave. A sudden surge of strength greater than any she'd ever felt flooded through her muscles at that thought. She wouldn't fail. She would kill whatever she had to. For Mai and Alyssa, for Shizuru and Midori, for her new animal friend, and even for herself; she would send the rulers of this cursed world screaming back into an even deeper level of Hell.

It was just as well that she had found her resolve, because soon the whole platform began shaking even more ominously, and she thought she heard the sound of crumbling rocks falling beneath the boiling water behind her. A ferocious growl rumbled deep in her throat loud enough make Duran proud as she leapt to her feet and recklessly started a mad sprint across the ever narrowing pathway. Her feet slid on the slick surface many times during her short run and only throwing her body weight in the opposite direction of her fall and leaping away from the deadly puddles kept her on her feet. Soon Natsuki's already daring sprint looked more like her going through one of her martial arts kata. Her unsheathed claws whistled through the thick steaming air as her strong legs powered her from one small momentarily stable patch on the rock bridge to the next. All the while behind her the bridge was crumbling and falling off into the lake, the Slayer sometimes only a few leaps away from losing her fast disappearing lifeline entirely.

After what seemed like an eternity of her dangerous dance, with death clawing at her from either side, Natsuki finally landed with a most ungraceful thud at the relatively more stable edge of the volcano's island. Her claws retracted as the Slayer allowed herself a moment's relaxation, lying prone on the blessedly unmoving and dry ground below her. The snake slowly undid its coils and slid to the ground in front of Natsuki, its great length seeming to hug at the newly formed rock with almost spiritual gratitude. Like Natsuki, its breaths seemed to be coming fast and heavy even though all it had done during their dangerous journey was to hang on. Still the Slayer understood that staring death in the face like they just did was an exhausting business, so she didn't hold it against her brave animal companion. "We're still alive though, so that's something." She croaked out conversationally as the snake stared at her incredulously, its pretty red eyes seeming to ask her if she did crazy things like this all the time. "Well, I'll admit that I live dangerously, but this place has been pretty crazy even for me." She sighed, "I just hope Mai and Shizuru are alright. I hated leaving them alone here, but it had to be safer than bringing them along. I mean that bridge wasn't even safe enough for one person."

Finally she reluctantly looked away from the pretty snake, whose presence in this alien world was unexpectedly comforting. Its absolute faith in her ability to keep it safe combined with its insistence on helping gave her a bit of hope for success.

Green eyes widened as there, barely half the length of a football pitch away, on a hard black volcanic rock altar, was the unmistakable form of a fitfully sleeping Alyssa. The small girl looked even frailer than usual, dirt and ash was smudged liberally over her body that was clad in simple filthy grey rags, even her hair that was once again its traditional gold was thick and dark with streaks of dirt. She was separated from Natsuki by two forks of a deceptively gently flowing lava river. Her pale, thin arms and legs were chained to the rock with heavy dark metal chains. Natsuki felt her heart stop with remembered pain. She knew that the similarity of Alyssa's position to her own when she was made into a Slayer could not be mere coincidence.

Natsuki sighed slightly in relief that her little sister at least didn't bear any disfiguring scars on her body, but her stomach turned when she saw the slowly pulsating ethereal golden eye in the centre of the girl's heavily sweating forehead. It seemed to pulse in time with the little girl's ineffective struggling against her chains as she slept. The fearful and troubled expression on her face was so unlike the uncannily calm young child Natsuki had first met at the church on campus.

At the sight of her little sister looking so frail and helpless the last of the Slayer's fear burned away as though it had been consumed by the surrounding molten rock. She sprinted forward, briefly losing sight of the snake behind her, now focused completely on somehow reaching Alyssa's side and freeing her from her chains. Maybe then the two of them could go home. Her plan was ill formed. Floating in her mind was the vague notion of simply leaping over the treacherous rivers. She had no idea at all of what she could do to get back across them with Alyssa, her instinct to protect the little girl that she finally recognized as her sister simply demanded that Natsuki get closer to her.

The thunder of rocks crumbling again sounded over the steady hissing of molten lava pouring into the boiling lake and melting the rocks under it as it flowed downhill. However this time the results were nothing as natural as a simple, if particularly destructive earthquake. Natsuki skidded to a halt just in time, her already scraped and bleeding feet protesting as the sharp new rocks cut into them further. The faint residue of acid from the lake made the shallow wounds even more painful to her raw flesh. Mere inches from her bare and bloody toes a small fissure in the newly formed earth opened up, its dark depths that glowed ominously promised certain death.

From within the rift came a slow and rhythmic scraping. It was more regular than the random convection of the lava bubbling inside, causing the Slayer to slowly back away. But until the hell beast crawled forth, Natsuki's scientific mind had a difficult time accepting this particular explanation for what her ears detected. She hadn't realized that even hell beasts could survive such temperatures, but the eyeless, glistening black scorpion longer than she was tall certainly seemed no worse for wear.

Presently the scorpion was completely still, every bit the ambush predator. Its shiny black exoskeleton blended in almost completely with the newly formed rock, and if Natsuki looked away she knew that even so close she would have a hard time picking its form out again. The scorpion was crouched low to the ground, its pointed feet digging into the still soft rock, the small sensitive hairs along its thin legs waiting to feel the slightest vibrations on the ground or in the air to alert it of nearby prey. The many toothed pinchers were splayed out in front of it, held slightly open in an almost relaxed posture, while the venomous tail spike was held completely still, curled over its back.

Natsuki had heard from various sources that usually scorpions with large claws such as this one were only mildly venomous... but she knew better than to think that such rules would apply to a hell beast. And besides it was so large, perhaps almost two meters in length from its twitching mandibles to the base of its tail and at least half again as wide, even fairly mild venom delivered in such quantity would be problematic... especially when the nearest hospital was in another dimension.

Experimentally the Slayer grabbed a nearby chunk of recently dried lava that must have been broken off by the plateau's violent shaking. The rock was still warm to the touch, but not painful. Narrowing her eyes she chucked the rock gently in the scorpion's direction, hitting it squarely on its wide armoured back. The creature immediately shifted into a more aggressive stance, its tail now arched forward of its eyeless head and the large claws displaying in a threatening manner. Long trails of viscous black fluid began to drip from its mandibles, and Natsuki watched apprehensively as the creature began methodically coating the teeth of its claws with the sticky substance. _Somehow I think getting cut by those would be definite badness._

The Slayer took a sideways step, her feet as silent as an arctic wolf's in newly fallen snow, but the scorpion still quickly turned to face her new position. Its massive claws now swiped in her general direction as it charged forward several steps with lightning speed. She leapt back reflexively and her own sharpened boneclaws coated with her blood thrust from her hands as she responded instinctively to the more forceful threat. Green eyes widened in horror as large drops of her blood dripped from her claws to splash onto the bone dry rock. In a blur of shining black the scorpion lunged for its apparently wounded prey and even with her supernatural reflexes Natsuki barely jumped out of its way. She had only seconds before the faster but less agile arthropod changed course and made another lightning speed charge at the tasty morsel of meat that was so frustratingly evading its deadly weapons.

Natsuki growled as she again landed softly, this time directly behind the confused predator, her long dark hair falling forward into her face. Green eyes narrowed as she tried to let go of the million thoughts flying around her always active brain and allow her own inner predator free reign. The Slayer quickly shifted onto the offensive while her opponent was still baffled by her disappearance. She lunged forward, one bare and scraped foot stomped down hard on a spindly armoured leg as her clawed hands got a firm grip on the beast's deadly tail. Sharp white teeth flashed in a ruthless grin at the sound of the scorpion's exoskeleton crunching under her iron grip. Overhead bright bluish lightning flashed as the steady flow of water vapour from the lake finally coalesced into many layers of thin grey clouds.

The scorpion struggled angrily in her grip, reacting more in fury than in pain at being turned on by this wily soft bodied creature. Its struggling was in vain. The more agile Natsuki effortlessly stayed well out of reach of its claws while her own attempted cut into the scorpion's tail through a small chink in its armoured plate. Her other hand maintained its crushing grip a few segments below where she was performing her indelicate dissection. The last thing she wanted was to sever the tail only to be poisoned by the claws as it whipped around on her.

Finally she felt the sharp bony tip of her middle claw slip between the thick armoured plates, and she could feel from both the give of the chitin there as well as the hell beast's increased struggling in her grasp that this area was much softer. Her grin widened as her claws now easily penetrated through the weaker armour and into the soft, stringy muscle underneath. The scorpion's deadliest weapon now hung limply over its body as Natsuki finished the job of severing it from its owner, chucking the still dangerous appendage into the fissure in the new rock that the creature had crawled from. It wouldn't do for her to envenom herself by stepping on the tail after she'd killed the beast. That would just be embarrassing.

The scorpion now struggled desperately in the Slayer's grasp, as if for the first time sensing that it was just as mortal as its tricky prey. Pointed feet scraped hard enough to scratch the smooth volcanic rock, except for the injured leg that merely dragged lifelessly, occasionally twitching with useless motion. The muscles in the Slayers arms and legs ached as she attempted to hold the huge creature still, but a helpful thought from her more scientific side meant that despite struggling against the now much stronger creature, her victorious grin never faltered. She waited until the scorpion was tugging against her grip extra hard and then simply let go, causing the animal to inadvertently sprint many meters away before it realized that it was no longer captive. By the time the injured hell beast had realized its mistake, Natsuki had just barely made the huge leap over the deep fissure that the scorpion had crawled from. Her bare legs tingling uncomfortably at the rising intense heat from the chamber of magma below as she scrambled for purchase on the far side.

When she was finally on relatively solid ground she turned to see the scorpion again in its hunting posture, or at least its new crippled best approximation. The Slayer could practically hear its grumbling as it seethed in pain and fury at being attacked by a weak and squishy meal. Now Natsuki deliberately allowed her blood to drip freely to the ground, hoping that the animal's apparently keen sense of smell would still be able to detect it even from such a distance.

She wasn't disappointed as the wounded hell beast charged her recklessly. Her lips curled up as it promptly tumbled forward into the chasm. Carefully she crawled closer so that she could peer over the edge and watch in morbid fascination as the hot magma now effortlessly burned the scorpion from the inside. In moments the still untouched and unmoving hollow exoskeleton was sinking below the churning rapids of the strange planet's fury. For a moment she simply watched the now undisturbed but still churning magma, her scientific curiosity piqued by even a magickal adaptation that would allow a creature to survive in such an extreme temperature environment. If she remembered any of this when she returned to her own world she'd have to tell RedWiccan about the creature. The college-aged witch shared her theory that magicks still acted according to most of the laws of physics, and she was curious to see if her online friend who seemed to be something of a genius could take a guess as to how the hell beast managed such an interesting feat.

Still though... she glanced up and around the once more lifeless plateau save for Alyssa in her troubled slumber. Something else had been here too... green eyes scanned the ground near the bridge that had sunken into the lake and saw nothing. Regardless that it might be a surprise from a biological standpoint to find anything living up here, the Slayer had expected to find more resistance. Lightning again flashed across the sky, the faint rumbling of thunder barely audible over the constant white noise of hissing water and the lava's persistent bubbling. The Slayer was still separated from her sister by two lava rivers, though they seemed to have cooled considerably in the short amount of time she had been fighting the scorpion. Instead of being a bright fluid orange they were now covered in a thin layer of hardened black that oozed along more slowly. Just under the surface however she could see lines of molten orange still flowing forward into the lake, and she knew that touching it would still be just as deadly as before.

A problem easily solved by one reckless and crazy enough to try, and a determined Slayer was both of those things. There were plenty of large broken off rocks littered about the gently sloping shield volcano. It was a simple matter of chucking several of the largest she could lift into the closest slowly moving lava river. She got lucky. Maybe. The lava flow was apparently shallow enough that the rocks that weighed more than Natsuki herself remained above the surface. Now she only needed to be crazy enough to see if they could support her weight as well, while risking having her limbs burnt completely off. ...Before her stepping stones whose edges were already smoking slightly melted into the rest of the river. No time to second guess now. For a brief moment she stared at the placement of the rocks in the hellish river, their exact positions being etched into her mind. Then she raised her eyes, focusing entirely on her frightened sister as she again put her powerful leg muscles to work, leaping effortlessly like a huge cat, her feet burning painfully from the rising heat. But her heart was beating with excitement as she landed more or less unharmed meters from Alyssa's stone prison. _Whoever made this place obviously underestimated me._

Clamping down on her initial urge to rush over to Alyssa, Natsuki instead approached cautiously. She expected to be set upon by dozens of powerful demons, or for the unstable earth to open up underneath her and swallow her whole... But nothing of the sort happened and soon she was at her little sister's side. A cursory test showed that she wasn't going to be able to break the chains using only her brute strength, at least not without seriously injuring Alyssa, an unacceptable option. She sighed, frustrated but not really surprised. Of course it would be Slayer-proofed. Her heart clenched as her fists gripped hard at the side of the altar, boneclaws scratching defiantly into the annoyingly smooth surface. At least the sides had an appropriately sinister look, with great intertwining melted rock rivulets, newly hardened into a glistening black.

Slowly she unclenched one fist and retracted her claws, reaching out to tenderly run her bloody fingers through Alyssa's filthy and roughened golden hair, wondering at the softness she could still feel underneath all of the dirt. At the Slayer's touch the little girl's sleep finally seemed to quiet, her face which had been contorted in fear and pain relaxing and smoothing, giving her the look of a fallen angel finally at peace. Except for the still pulsating golden eye that seemed tattooed on the girl's forehead.

Despite her surroundings and their apparently hopeless situation, she smiled at how Alyssa seemed to trust her presence on an instinctual level. Somehow knowing that Alyssa was this little piece of herself who just might be able to continue living a normal and happy life long after the Slayer had fallen in battle filled a cold emptiness inside that until now Natsuki hadn't even been aware existed. "I promise I'll get you out of here somehow. No matter what it takes, I'll protect you with everything I have." She assured her sleeping sister; briefly closing her eyes she leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on a pale and dirty cheek.

Closing her eyes was the only thing that saved her. At the chaste show of affection the golden tattoo darkened to dark blood red, and a long tendril of magickal energy lashed up like a tongue of flame. A low whimper escaped Natsuki's throat as it opened up a deep gash into her right eyebrow and cheek. Only her great experience dealing with intense pain enabled her to avoid injuring the still unconscious Alyssa with her claws as she leapt away, bringing her arms up in front of her face defensively and eyes opened wide to locate the attacker. Her eye stung as blood dripped into it, her instinct to rub it with the heel of her palm only making it worse.

Even with vision temporarily devoid of depth perception, Natsuki still saw everything as Alyssa's form here in the spirit world began to change. Steadily she began to look more and more like she had the last time Natsuki saw her at the hospital. Her golden hair darkened so that it was even darker than the Slayer's, it seemed to absorb every photon of light that touched it instead of reflecting some to show highlights. While her hair darkened, her pale skin lightened even more, going from white to nearly transparent. Underneath darkened veins became so prominent that they almost seemed to run over top of the girl's thin skin instead of under it. The entire effect was further enhanced as the meagre flesh on her body began to consume itself for energy as Natsuki watched helpless. Those eyes she remembered being such a clear and vibrant blue were now sunken into her skull, her eye sockets dark and hollowed out. Before they were thin, but now her limbs were nearly skeletal to the point that the dual bones in her forearms and shins were now easily distinguishable.

Natsuki felt her stomach turn with nausea even as tears of helpless despair mixed with the blood and ash already coating her face. Whatever sadistic entity ruled this place was showing how her sister could easily die in ways that Natsuki had no power over, and unlike some taunts it affected her intensely. Not only because of the graphic visuals, but because it was _true._ Anyone she cared about could one day suffer many terrible things beyond the Slayer's ability to fight.

As Alyssa darkened so did the clouds overhead. However where she became so thin that her chains were the only thing keeping the fierce hot winds from blowing her away, the dark clouds were now thick enough to completely block out the light from the red sun. The visible landscape seemed much smaller, the clouds now completely shrouding the view of the world beyond the plateau such that it might not even exist. The mountain though was still painted the same eerie orangey red, only the light shone from below instead of above as the various magma chambers and flowing lava lit clouds and rocks.

Now that Alyssa had weakened to the point that Natsuki feared she would die no matter what the Slayer might be able to accomplish here, suddenly things again _shifted. _The space between them began to _expand._ The rock stretched and reformed without ever becoming molten, the altar bearing her sister's weak body that was barely holding onto life becoming more and more distant until squinting green eyes could only just make out pale skin against the slate grey horizon. Then even the small glimpse of this precious girl slipped away, as the new space was slowly filled with a _darkness._ It seemed little more than more clouds at first, great wisps floating in from all directions until they coalesced into a less random distribution.

Natsuki rubbed at her right eye, wondering if her decreased vision or the featureless horizon was fooling her as to this thing's size. A great brownish grey undulating mass formed, its many tentacle-like legs rivalling the thickness of the largest trees in an old growth forest, allowing it to easily tower above the Slayer. Indeed even the gently sloping cone of the new volcano didn't seem very large next to this demon, though the actual mouth of the volcano was farther away. If something so massive could even be classified as a mere demon. Its body was nothing more than an indistinct mass, cut across with a gaping maw that revealed disturbingly human-shaped yellow teeth. A single black eye that pulsated with dark magicks, its shape identical to the tattoo on Alyssa's forehead stared contemptuously down at the tiny Slayer.

And its contempt was well founded. Even the creature's eye was easily larger in height than its tiny, only slightly more than human opponent. What was she compared to a being older than her transient mortal universe? How dare she ask it _anything?_ Putrid flaps that approximated lips quirked up into a sneer. Even if the mortal thought she could somehow _win_ those puny young gods had promised it balance in all things, but this _life.._. It grimaced. Life, it was not balance. It was chaos. If by some unlikely chance the mortal could disperse its uncomfortable physical shell, this would only be further proof of the instability of things. The sneer morphed into a disgusting smile. Balance would return. From the violent realms it would come forth, rising from beneath their crawling feet, to devour and rend until the endless dark returned.

Fear. It weighed her down, making her limbs feel as though they were made of something twice as heavy as lead. Was this truly impossible? Had her overconfidence in all things finally doomed not only her, but Mai and Alyssa, and perhaps Shizuru as well? She shivered as she thought of the late Sakuya's warning all those months ago. The great destructive god was still nearly motionless, his indistinct and grotesque form towering over her as the faint light from the volcano highlighted great undulations in uneven lumps of flesh. But already the Slayer felt her heart clenched tight by an intense and heavy cold that even the heat of the surrounding lava was powerless to penetrate. It was the same crushing, suffocating cold that she had felt as she entered this cursed world, only now she faced it completely alone. A large void began gathering in front of the great god's eye, as it continued to stare silently at the tiny human, its own endless consciousness unrestrained by its temporary body reached out and roughly pushed so that it took over parts of Natsuki's brain. Its cold and voiceless thoughts whispering to her about how everyone she knew, everything in her universe that she could see and even more that she could never see, would be reduced once more into the formless void.

Just as the Slayer truly realized that she couldn't win against such a being, and the intense pressure around her made breathing an imminent impossibility, everything changed. Time stopped. Or at least everyone else's time stopped. Comforting familiar warmth radiated from her chest, as Natsuki peered out from her own little isolated island of time at the unmoving world around her. Even the being that had seemed a god was now completely frozen in motion, some of its massive tentacles paused in midair. Then while she was completely aware she felt in impossible detail the very cells in her body being torn apart and slowly separated from each other. For long moments she wondered, even as she wondered how she still wondered with her very body ripped from a mostly concentrated liquid and into a loose collection of vapour, if this was the terrible god's punishment. If it was going to set her adrift into many skies, to watch as all the countless souls she was meant to protect were consumed by the great Nothing. A Nothing more literal and yet more terrifying and unavoidable than in her favourite story.

And then there was that familiar surge of ageless power that coursed through even her new amorphous self, _the Slayer_, her constant connection to something greater than human, greater than mortal. From a realm she suspected mortals were _never_ permitted to enter, energy surged forth only to be slowed and sculpted into matter. Freshly created cells filled the huge gaps present between her original ones, shifting where arms were, changing her face and body into something new. When the shimmering curtain fell away, again permitting the destructive god to gaze upon this unworthy nuisance he let out an angry subsonic roar that shook the entire plateau and caused another more active flow of lava to issue forth from the volcano. The being before him was no mere mortal. He had been _betrayed_ by those foolish gods of the light.

Her wide paws with their toughened pads and fluffy black fur now stepped confidently across now painless rocks in the putrid god's direction. The great wolf's body was larger than the house she had shared for years with her _Watcher._ A happy whine escaped her throat as she thought of the kind woman waiting patiently for her to return safely home, the noise sounding more like a puppy than a proper hunter. Her prey was much larger than she was, but she was a mighty and experienced hunter. Even alone she would bring this threat to her pack to the ground. A challenging howl sprung forth as she eyed the lumbering giant, before she flattened herself out and began running forward at a full on sprint towards the soon to be dead god letting out a gleeful bark in sheer joy at the power of her new body. This god of Nothing faced more than a Slayer here, it faced Duran's Champion.


	23. Chapter 23

DISCLAIMER: Well, here we are, almost to the end of this leg of our journey. After this we will only have one more epilogue chapter for Almost Human. But fear not dear readers, for there is no cause for worry. I'm already hard at work brainstorming NtVS:3, and have even gotten a draft of the first chapter written! ...Or maybe there is cause for worry for those of you hoping desperately that I would just give up so you wouldn't be forced to keep reading this crap. -.o Anyway, here's the update, brought to you despite freezing cold and blizzards. :-P

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

_"You've never seen a demon. All the demons that walk the Earth are tainted, human-hybrids like vampires."_

The Void churned. Its fleeting moment of consciousness and form in an eternity of Nothing an unpleasant impossibility. Through the eye of an insignificant god of destruction and death it shone, into a universe where things of tenuous and fragile form existed in violation of the laws of Nothing. For infinite and nonexistent time it tore these countless islands of light and matter, stretching all asunder across great and fathomless Nothing, until all faded away in frozen isolation, unaware of the existence of innumerable comrades dying slowly in the endless dark.

Before it was a black furred beast, a limited consciousness that deemed itself powerful. And compared to those of its own kind the beast undoubtedly was, having friends in high places among aged gods that had fallen out of power in the time before this latest foam of universes exploded into being. The foolish beast charged at its top speed, but for the Void that existed beyond the understanding of a mere beast, an instant was no different than an eternity. Whether it sprinted or crawled was of insignificance. Before the beast was in any position to attack the Void's abattoir, the Void would know the beast better than the beast's own gods.

Then the Void knew. The beast, it had connections to not one, nor two, but many of the countless individual universes within the foam. The Void pondered. If there was anything that it understood it was patience. Should it attempt to destroy a powerful symbol of life at its most impressive at this instant, where none of the beast's kind would understand? Or should it merely thread the beast with a few of its tendrils and thus gain a greater hold into every universe the beast touched? It was decided. The Void would withdraw most of its influence from this shell...

The Void was making ready to momentarily withdraw its favour of the great destructive god and set its tendrils into the dark furred beast. But then it became aware of another, on the edges of the fight. The Void felt an unfamiliar startle. Had that one been standing there the whole time? This other beast was in the standard tiny _human_ form, but she radiated a darker power than the one leading the charge. Her tawny brunette hair and unsoiled pale skin should have stood out easily in this hellscape, but she had almost remained completely hidden. She radiated the more controlled power of one willing to stay behind the scenes, biding time until the right time to act with the greatest effect.

The Void immediately drifted in and began a quick attempt to intertwine itself with the quiet, bloody eyed mortal. Then it recognized something unusual, again the unsettling _emotion_ of surprise filtering in, aided by the corporeal body of the destructive god. The Void already existed within the quiet, thinking one, but it was heavily under wraps. The Void was so unused to the complications of _awareness. _ These insights were unnecessary for its ultimate triumph. ...And unlike the dark beast, whose _soul_ bridged many individual universes, this quiet bearer of Void was also at multiple places in the same instant, but also in this single partial universe, as well as spread among many. _Very interesting indeed._ The Void pondered this and many things as it gifted the destructive god that had reached the end of its usefulness with a last bit of strength, so that its defeat would not arouse suspicion in the obviously veteran warrior beast. And then the Void dispersed, and thought no more.

-MH-BtVS-MH-

_Minutes ago_

Shizuru watched. This main body of hers held still for precious minutes as she witnessed Natsuki attempting in vain to free her fragile looking sister. The normally calm and patient teenager was only stopped from foolishly rushing across the distance to comfort her most important person by the present impossibility of movement. Shizuru was spread too thin, her consciousness simultaneously existing in many times and places in this universe. She had no energy to spare to comfort Natsuki now, or she would be unable to stop her from dying later. Shizuru might have had enough energy if she were gambling person. She thought that maybe her abilities here, combined with the Slayer's might be enough to destroy their powerful foe. But Shizuru knew better than to entrust outcomes to chance, so she split her energies despite her current desires to comfort Natsuki, so that she could summon Mai. The witch and her dragon should be able to help herself and Natsuki from a safe distance so that all of them, but most importantly Natsuki, could get home from this middle universe in one piece.

If only Shizuru's abilities could keep Natsuki safe in their own universe, but the foams nearer the shell didn't allow for splitting like this. _And indeed my mind cannot even hold these ideas in a coherent way in our own universe. The very concepts, let alone the methods, are outside my waking mind's understanding._ She thought with bitter frustration, though she was glad that just this once her family curse seemed to offer her a chance to save Natsuki from a creature more powerful than those allowed to exist in their universe.

A small smile came to Shizuru's lips as she watched Natsuki tenderly running her fingers through her little sister's hair. So often it frightened her how much of her existence revolved around Natsuki. From the moment the brave and kind little dark haired hero had appeared in her life all those years ago when they were but children, Shizuru found herself both fascinated by and drawn to the girl. Shizuru was never quite sure exactly what specifically made Natsuki so incomparably fascinating, even before she knew the specifics of Natsuki's big secret... That the charmingly blunt, yet sweet girl was also a mystical warrior, who fought nightly against physical manifestations of evil. Whenever Natsuki's bright eyes held hers, or that rough but always emotional voice said her name, Shizuru felt like they were the only two people in existence.

Almost before she understood the real meaning of the word, Shizuru was in love with Natsuki. Surely she knew that her parents loved each other; or rather her mother loved her father as much as she was capable of loving anyone, while her father seemed to mostly love the woman her mother used to be, before her terrible curse changed her from a vibrant and passionate woman into a bitter and tired shell of her former self. They both loved Shizuru as well. Her mother always spent time with her whenever the poor woman was aware of the world around her enough to do so. And her father cared for his beloved daughter deeply, even if his primary way of showing that affection was so often to be as busy as possible at work, making lots of money so that he could shower his sweet daughter with gifts. However the intensity of her feelings for Natsuki seemed orders of magnitude above those expected familial bonds.

There was something more to it than the pure intensity of Natsuki's regard for her, though Shizuru was consistently amazed that the girl's fumbling words and shy blushing smile could make her feel so special. Being perceived by her acquaintances at school as something of a rich princess she was used to being treated as better than others, but Natsuki's treatment of her was subtly different. Shizuru was always a serious child. She took all of her responsibilities, including her study of naginatajutsu, very seriously. So she often found herself annoyed whenever her father or other males treated her like a helpless and fragile little princess. But even before she knew the mysterious girl's secret, Natsuki's similar but more intense protective treatment of her was one of the few things capable of turning Shizuru into a speechless and shy blushing school girl.

Shizuru came back to herself as the world around them began to shift from a mere inhospitable natural environment and into a true hellscape. Blood red eyes narrowed as the huge, menacing and disgusting god began to form, his great globular and tentacled self an eyesore even in this place filled with great yellow mineral columns of foul venting sulphur. The time was fast approaching when Shizuru would see if her efforts had been enough to allow the three of them to defeat this foe, or if she had merely sacrificed her chance to say goodbye to Natsuki. As Shizuru stared into the strange purplish dark void swirling in front of the creature's eye, she was overcome with a familiar sensation. It was similar to when something happened in her waking life that nearly exactly resembled a dream, the details of which were fragmented at best and only just recalled at the time of the incident. However as soon as she recognized the sensation it was gone, and then Shizuru had no further time to contemplate. Natsuki would need all of her friends' strength and concentration.

-MH-BtVS-MH-

The wolf felt herself practically laughing as she charged her ridiculous looking foe. Her thick, sharp claws clicked against the hard stone ground and sharp white teeth were bared in a canine approximation of a grin. She loved to hunt! And killing a big, strong opponent like this one could only serve to gain her more of the other thing she loved the most; snuggles from her favourite humans. The wolf also had vague thoughts of _other_ things she wanted to do with those humans as well, and she felt the skin on her face warm. Fortunately for her dignity the embarrassed reddening was hidden nicely by her thick fur. Besides, now was not the time for distractions. She could contemplate those tantalizing activities further once she had felled her opponent. The wolf found herself finally concentrating completely on her prey as her sharp teeth sunk into a disturbing waving tentacle. The putrid gush of foul tasting rotten fluids that flooded her mouth quickly purged all pleasant thoughts from her mind.

She glared up at the huge creature's vaguely formed face through glinting green eyes. The towering sensitive spots seemed impossibly far away, almost touching the great forks of lightning in the thick dark clouds that sent her sensitive ears ringing with loud reverberating thunder. Brown froth from the edge of the great tentacle clenched between her teeth foamed out of her mouth. This giant confused her. How could she possibly reach the more vital weak parts at the top when she couldn't even figure out how it stayed upright? It was as though the giant floated in the thin air like it was water.

As she watched the swirling darkness in front of the large eye began to fade. Then almost before the wolf could detect it, a dark purple narrower, and wickedly barbed tentacle snaked out from within the writhing mass at blurred speed. The wolf jerked her dark head out of the way, but not before the barb sliced into the area above her right eye. Its sharp point cut into her face deeply the same way that another had in the moments before she had turned from a tiny two legged creature into this powerful form. While the barbed weapon recoiled, the wolf saw countless others speeding towards her vulnerable face and reluctantly released her bite on the creature. Before another blow could connect, the wolf was speeding away at a full out run, her body stretched out and her furry belly nearly scraping the ground as she moved at full speed away from the unexpected weapons across the parched, cracked rock.

She whirled around to face the creature as soon as she felt she had gotten out of range of those deadly defences. Her long thin tongue lolled out of her gaping mouth as she attempted to spit out the giant's disgusting taste, watching the creature writhing at this safer distance. Her own blood stung her right eye as it dripped into it and the wolf whined slightly, angry to have been caught off-guard. The undulating giant's weapons glinted as red light from the various magma vents lit them from below, providing the wolf with the barest glimpse of the next danger that sent her again running with all of her speed.

The giant began ejecting its sharp barbs from its body and they whistled through the hot air like countless thrown knives. Though the dodging wolf had experience avoiding or even catching a few sharp projectiles, with so many slicing towards her, not even her practiced zigzagging running pattern could keep her safe from every point. She whimpered as one of the huge needle-like weapons pierced through the thick fur and muscle of her left shoulder, its tip lodging itself in the bone of her shoulder blade. Her once easy running gait was now excruciating, but she had no choice but to continue moving as more of the sharp projectiles were flung in her direction. She managed to avoid any more serious injuries during the next three volleys by running in closer to her attacker. Tufts of dark fur few through the air as barbs grazed her, and more trickles of blood matted the fur along her ribs and chest as some of the huge razor-sharp needles cut into her flesh on their way past. The wolf panted heavily as she dodged the seemingly endless barrage, even as she continually darted into and out of the undulating mass of tentacles. Her own sharp teeth managed to bite deeply into the giant's flesh many times, but all the damage she inflicted on it seemed to have no effect at all on her prey.

But just as the wolf was working herself into a frustrated frenzy, with more and more rivulets of her own blood running down her sides while the giant seemed to regenerate its body as she injured it; salvation appeared. A huge white form cut through the dangerously electrified mass of dark grey clouds, and the wolf was nearly impaled again as she blinked in surprise at the sight of the orange haired female sitting astride its back. Her small human form was dwarfed by the great white dragon beneath her. _Mai, _she remembered, her heart beating joyfully in her chest at the sight, even as she worried for her witch getting involved in what seemed a hopeless fight.

The dragon's wide leathery wings were held in a fixed outward position away from it as it soared with great and effortless speed toward the heart of the epic battle already taking place between the god and the wolf. His long finned tail twitched eagerly as he approached the god from behind, his huge form completely silent as he cut through the air towards his target.

The wolf resumed her attacks with vigour. Sharp teeth snapped at writhing tentacles more recklessly, taking several more barbs in her heaving sides as she worked to keep the giant's attention focused on her own attacks. It might have come as a surprise that such an ancient god would not have eyes in the back of its head, but the giant was caught completely blindsided by the dragon's first attack. His huge talons sank deeply into the god's massive irregularly shaped head, rending the thick leathery flesh and muscle for long moments. But before the dragon had a chance to do any fatal damage he was forced to begin fanning his huge wings again and rise away from the god, lest he crash to the ground and bring his fragile cargo too close to the ruthless giant or her beloved who was engaged in the battle on the ground.

As the dragon temporarily retreated the god whipped around, his momentary distraction allowing the wolf to sit heavily on the ground to rest for a brief moment. She was panting heavily as she craned her neck at an uncomfortable angle, her teeth working carefully to get a grip on the huge barb that was impaled into her shoulder blade. The part of the wolf that was still human had thoughts of the dangers of potentially nicked arteries and bleeding out from removing the lodged object, but it was so painful that the wolf shoved those thoughts aside. Her teeth finally clamping down firmly onto the offending spike, the wolf whined in relief as the pain dulled to a more bearable throbbing as she finally removed it. The others stuck much more shallowly in her sides were less uncomfortable, as their resting places were not as sensitive. Her long tufted ears perked up as she just barely heard a bright voice calling her name. "Natsuki?"

The wolf glanced up to see the dragon soaring over her, his huge form dangerously close to the rocks, pure white skin still so vivid against the dark backdrop of clouds and rocks. Natsuki let out a loud bark at the sight of Mai's surprised looking face staring down at her from atop the dragon, the sound of her own joyful canine voice echoing loudly in her ears. _I can't believe Mai recognized me. And how is she here?_ Natsuki wondered, her more human thoughts returning to her rapidly even in wolf form at the sight of her beautiful girl.

They weren't allowed any longer for their reunion though, as the extremely angry ageless god yelled out its indignation, the many layered booming voice shaking the ground below. The god now seemed more focused on Mai and her dragon than the puny cur nipping harmlessly at its many ankles, and it followed their insolent flight past it with the huge glaring eye. Natsuki wondered if it was planning on just staring her witch to death when a wide dark purple blast that looked almost like a lazar shot from its dilated pupil, burning through the air towards the flying pair. The dragon gracefully dodged many successive beams, and suddenly blue sky and red sunlight was again shining down on the plateau as the beams burned away great swaths of the heavy clouds. Natsuki nearly laughed out loud at the sight of concentrated orange and yellow flames shooting from Mai's hands in retaliation, streaking towards the angrily undulating god below her. _Too bad Cyclops. Jean Grey was too good for you even when you were an X-men._

The defiant witch's aim was true, and it seemed fitting to Natsuki when the flames crashed into the god's huge eye. It was as though her girl was getting revenge for the giant nearly blinding Natsuki with its own weapons. The god roared loudly as the dark pupil of his eye became pale and cloudy, as even his supernatural proteins were warped by Mai's powerfully hot magickal fire. Still the rest of its massive form seemed unaffected by her attacks, and Natsuki knew that Mai wouldn't have enough power reserves to burn away its entire eyeball with her magicks. Both wolf and dragon attempted to get in more damaging bites to the giant god, but even flailing blindly its great mass of barbed tentacles and even the blunt blows from the more muscular ones were potentially deadly. Both carefully circled its towering form, occasionally darting in to do minor damage, but things were at an unfortunate stalemate.

Then they all froze as the great rocky stage below them again began to shake and shudder violently, the dragon managing to pause in his flight by angling his wings just right so that he hovered out of reach of the once flailing tentacles. The wolf tilted her head in confusion as she realized the god was just as startled by the sudden shaking as the mortals trying futilely to bring it down. Was it possible that there was something else with power in this universe? Something more powerful than even this great god?

Natsuki leaped back just in time as rocks burst outward below her paws and the god. The heads and bodies of countless interlocked snakes surged up from below, seemingly immune to the rivulets of orange liquid rock dripping from their huge heads and back into the chasm from which they came. They were huge, each bigger around than the god's tentacles, their heads longer than the huge wolf's body. They were beautiful too, Natsuki noted in wonder. Their glistening scales running the entire gradient of rich browns, reds and purples, from pale tan to nearly black. And their countless eyes were all that heart stopping, familiar red. _Shizuru!_ The name echoed in her mind with surprise and amazement, as she realized with sudden clarity the identity of her mysterious animal guide, as well as this amazing and powerful supernatural being that seemed easily stronger than the putrid monstrosity above her. _She's such a goddess._

The ancient god flailed uselessly as countless many-toothed mouths bit into the tentacles. Natsuki watched in wonder as even the giant was no match for the overwhelming power of her red eyed goddess. The mythical hydra effortlessly wrestled the once nearly invincible being to the ground, allowing the wolf to simply charge in and begin methodically biting into the soft muscled tissue under the wide gaping mouth. Persistently she bit and gnawed, hoping that sheer determination might help her to behead and slay this amorphous devil once and for all.

Even under the simultaneous assault of the wolf and hydra, and the occasional carefully aimed bolt of flame from the sky, the fallen god remained proud and as it began speaking again. Natsuki's strong jaws stopped in mid bite. "So. Old One. You challenge my right to the worlds of your mortals." It sneered, and even as a wolf Natsuki flinched, but not at its words. The fallen abomination spoke in the voice of Shizuru's dead mother. "It was promised that I should again rule over all of their realms once the balance was broken. The very sight of you challenging me here today is all the proof that I need that it _is_ broken."

Between her teeth the god's flesh suddenly started to rot away, peeling back from soft giant yellowish bones far beneath. Its body suddenly began expanding rapidly, bloating out grotesquely and Natsuki's paws scrambled as she hurried to back away before she was crushed. But inside she felt herself being involuntarily drawn towards its disgusting form, and only her great willpower kept her safely away. A howl of pain was cut short as she was forcefully shifted back into her more normal human girl self, the extra cells ripped away as her natural ones collapsed in on each other with a thundering crack. Naked and bleeding she fell with a thud onto the hard ground. She stared, her green eyes wide with horror as they gazed up into the widening grin of evil. Bare rotten strings of muscles remaining around the god's mouth curved up around softening yellow teeth, the swollen splotched red and brown gums rapidly receding to make them appear longer.

"You haven't won. Your success here in this realm between only strengthens us. Soon I will appear in my true form in the pointless kingdoms of all the mortals and bring long overdue destruction to your fragile universes." Its warped form grinned wider as its tone changed into that of another's. "And it's all thanks to you, _Slayer_." Involuntary tears streamed down Natsuki's once more human cheeks. The death god now spoke in the gentle and kind voice of her own mother. A voice that even after all these years she had never forgotten, now corrupted in her memory by this force of evil.

The god's body began to collapse, becoming smaller and smaller, falling into itself. As it reached a critical mass, smaller than even Natsuki's human form, it exploded, showering the mortals and the entire plateau in huge running and dripping globs of rotting fatty tissue and muscle. They dripped with muck that burned the skin of human and immortal dragon alike as the world around them began to fade. The last thing Natsuki saw as she faded out was a now freed and healthy Alyssa lying in the place where the god had once been. The girl stared into her big sister's eyes, her bright blue orbs wide with wonder and confusion.

-MH-BtVS-MH-

Shizuru sat completely still on the edge of the hospital bed's thin mattress, her posture perfect as she watched the nervous young male resident doctor stitching one of the many long deep cuts on the underside of her forearm. He hadn't been impertinent enough to ask where she got them, and she had barely spoken to him beyond the bare minimum of politeness. The long soft sleeves of her oversized black sweatshirt were rolled up to allow him to work, though his shaking hands made for uneven stitches at best. Still, Shizuru did not pull back the hood of her sweatshirt that shrouded most of her face in shadow, out of view of the bustling emergency room trauma center around them. Only her red eyes were visible, and the resident kept glancing up into them nervously every few minutes. He was obviously searching for something to say to break the uncomfortable silence, but at the moment Shizuru cared nothing for his comfort or even for keeping her pure pale skin unscarred.

This time when she woke from her dream, inexplicably crumpled on the hardwood floor of her room in the Fujino mansion, she was confronted with two vague sets of memories. And these angry looking wounds that taunted her with the truth. It hadn't been all in her head. Was there really this great and powerful force lurking inside her, laying in wait until it could bring destruction to anything that mattered in her life?

She felt her heart start beating faster as two familiar forms stumbled into the busy room through the revolving door. Her proud and beautiful Natsuki with the tattered rags of her clothes barely hanging on her body. The obviously wounded Slayer seemed to lean slightly against the concerned witch walking next to her, an arm thrown casually around Mai's slim shoulders. Shizuru gathered this information in a moment, her years of sitting just out of sight and simply observing Natsuki allowing her to easily notice even small details.

Before the Slayer looked in her direction Shizuru lowered her eyes to her lap, her spare hand reaching up to pull her hood more tightly over her face. Her shoulders slumped forward nervously, causing the clumsy resident to accidentally jab her arm more deeply with the threaded needle. He apologized profusely but Shizuru merely shrugged wordlessly, wondering if she was imagining the feeling of intense green eyes studying her slouched form carefully.

She closed her own eyes against the familiar burning sensation behind them that happened whenever she watched Natsuki easily interacting with another, as Shizuru kept herself purposefully distant. It wasn't simply because she wished she could be there next to Natsuki in Mai's place, though Shizuru knew that not even an expert liar like herself could convince anyone that she didn't wish for such closeness. No, the real pain was caused by the persistent thoughts that she would never belong so close to Natsuki, hopeless and dark thoughts that had plagued her ever sense she had first begun to truly understand the intensity of her feelings for Natsuki a few years earlier.

The kind and giving nature of the Slayer that drew Shizuru to Natsuki in the first place was the very thing that fuelled her belief that her getting too close could only hurt Natsuki. The dark haired girl was open and caring towards Shizuru in an honest way, but Natsuki was like that with _everyone._ It shamed her deeply, but at times Shizuru would find herself wishing that Natsuki didn't have Midori's unwavering support, so that the Slayer might feel less a bit comfortable around others.

Shizuru felt the sensation of being watched fade, and she hesitantly glanced up to see Natsuki's retreating back as she and Mai headed down one of the hospital's side halls without ever checking in at the reception desk. She relaxed with a mixture of relief and disappointment as she realized her disguise of frumpy clothing had worked, Natsuki hadn't recognized her.

Shizuru knew the Slayer's nature meant that she was never completely focused on just one person. Her concern constantly shifted among those closest to her, and even the unnamed and faceless masses that she protected with all of her devotion. And try as she might to convince herself that she could live in the moment like Mai claimed to, caring nothing for Natsuki's total commitment to her, Shizuru knew that such ability to compromise simply wasn't in _her_ nature. Shizuru had learned a great deal about the selfish darkness that lurked within as she endured the last few years with her mother. It was an unnerving set of contradictions. She felt it was vital that she distance herself from Natsuki, and yet the Slayer was the only thing that held her intense obsession. The intense anger and despair that lurked just beneath her calm mask at the thought of losing Natsuki scared her. The lengths that she would go to in order to keep Natsuki for herself alone leaving her feeling disgusted. This year with her mother's death, Shizuru realized just how tenuous her situation was, and she had tried to distance herself from further from Natsuki in desperation.

But it all seemed so hopeless. No matter how she tried to distance herself, she always felt herself drawn back. There was just something about that frustrating selflessness, the open smile with nothing held back and the playful sparkle of bright green eyes. It all kept Shizuru circling closer no matter how hard she tried to fight it, like the moth drawn to the proverbial flame. So should she just give in and keep flying towards the pretty light, hoping that neither of them would get burned? And what choice did she really have anyway? Shizuru sighed softly, causing the doctor's concerned dark eyes to again gaze up at her. She wondered if there was anything else in the world that could ever have the irresistible power over her that Natsuki did.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

Natsuki finally felt herself breathing easier as she and Mai stood outside of Alyssa's hospital room, staying out of direct sight of the once more blonde girl lying on her bed. Her bright girlish giggle could be heard filtering out of the room as she teased the lightly blushing but smiling Miyu who sat faithfully in an uncomfortable chair next to her bed. Natsuki had been able to get the android the chip modified by RedWiccan's programming hours before she and Mai had left for the cave to perform the spirit walk, and she was happy to see that the new behavioural chip without all the intrusive controls seemed to be working.

They had woken about an hour earlier in one of the beds in the monastery, the exhausted Natsuki lying on top of Mai with the witch's arms wrapped tightly around her. The Slayer's sides and shoulder were sore and bleeding, and there was a wicked looking cut sliced deep into her right eyebrow. Resilient as she was, the injured Slayer was in no position to get the two of them back to the city. Fortunately their adventures in the spirit world seemed to have left Mai with an enhanced sense of balance. Together they worked out a system where Mai would drive Natsuki's Kawasaki, with the Slayer squeezing her sides extra tight whenever she needed to shift gears. Natsuki hoped that her engine had survived the somewhat trying trip more or less unharmed, even though it had complained rather loudly a few times when Mai accelerated too quickly coming out of a tight turn.

The emergency room at the Hellmouth hospital had been crowded as always as they walked in, and despite Mai's urging Natsuki had refused to stop long enough to seek treatment for her wounds. Mai had reluctantly allowed Natsuki to put off seeing a doctor for a bit longer when she saw how anxious her friend was, and aided her by continuing to offer a shoulder for the wounded but stubborn Slayer to lean on as they walked down the maze of hallways to Alyssa's room. But Natsuki simply couldn't rest until she knew for certain that she and Mai had been successful rather than coincidentally having the same bizarre dream.

Even from this distance out of direct line of sight, Natsuki could tell that her little sister was well on her road to recovery. Certainly from what her sensitive hearing could make out, two of the nurses at the nearby station were currently discussing the young blonde girl's sudden unexpected awakening. But although the nurses had actually been into her room to check on her, they didn't realize something that Natsuki did. From the words of Alyssa's conversation with Miyu that drifted through the cracked open door, the Slayer could tell that her little sister was very different now from the much too serious and sad girl that she first got to know near her high school's church.

Natsuki felt a gentle squeeze as Mai grasped her hand, and shifted her focus to see concerned greyish eyes and a questioningly raised eyebrow. "Aren't you going to go in?" The witch asked, as if unable to fathom coming all this way while tired and injured to lurk in a shadow in the hallway.

But the Slayer shook her head firmly as she again looked back at the silhouette of her sister just barely visible from their vantage point. "No. I just wanted to make sure that she was okay."

"Why not though? I know that she's is almost overly fond of Miyu compared to anyone else, but I know she would still like to see you. And the nurses said that she was well enough to handle another visitor for a little bit." Mai reasoned, though her voice quiet, almost as though she feared alerting Miyu and thus Alyssa to their presence here without Natsuki's agreement.

Natsuki smiled at her witch's thoughtfulness but this time she didn't turn away from her careful watching of Alyssa and Miyu. Mai though watched the Slayer with increasing worry. They had won, but she was acting as though she might never see her little sister again. "I'm not going in." The Slayer finally replied, her tired voice even huskier than usual. "Miyu is going to be taking the two of them to America for now, and I don't want to risk someone suspecting any greater connections between me and Alyssa more than I already have."

"...Oh." The witch replied in a regretful voice, reaching out to rub the tired Slayer's back soothingly, "I'm sorry Natsuki."

"I'm not." She said as she gazed regretfully through the door for more long moments, though she could practically feel how unconvinced Mai was by her monotone words. She let out a long sigh, "Eh, alright. I am sorry that I won't get to spend time getting to know her, but I'd be really happy if this helps her to have a normal kid's life for at least a few years you know?" Natsuki explained, "Miyu can get internet access pretty much anywhere and is an expert at covering her tracks from people trying to follow her. She promised to keep me updated on how Alyssa's doing, even though I won't know exactly where they are." She shrugged helplessly as she turned back to Mai who was still looking at her sympathetically. "Anyway, you ready to leave? I'm good to go now that I've seen for myself that she's going to be okay."

"Shouldn't you see a doctor first?" Mai asked sceptically, pointing out wordlessly how Natsuki was still leaning against her as though standing on her own was too painful.

Natsuki pouted theatrically before nuzzling her nose against the witch's pleasantly warm neck. "I'll come back if I don't feel better by tomorrow. Please can we just go home?" She pleaded as she interlaced her fingers between Mai's, gently caressing the back of her hand with a calloused thumb as she continued her reasoning. "I want to spend time with you."

The witch sighed slightly, her greyish eyes showing both her exasperation with Natsuki's stubbornness as well as her own desire to go along with such a delightful sounding suggestion. "Okay... but if we just go home and rest, you promise me you'll come back here tomorrow?" Mai's heart beat faster as Natsuki simply nodded absently in response, a glint in her green eyes and a slight change in her touches from merely comforting to something a bit more provocative stating clearly that resting was not really what the Slayer had in mind.

"Plus I'm starving and hospital food sucks."

"You just ate almost all of the food we brought with us before we left the monastery." Mai teased, laughing slightly at how some things could always be counted on with Natsuki.

Natsuki grinned as they headed back down the hall, more than willing to help Mai make fun of her a little now that she knew for sure that Alyssa was indeed again among the waking... as well as no longer a threat to anyone. "Yeah well... you're just lucky that I was too worried that our spell didn't work right to take care of the other half of my problem." She teased back, admiring the light blush brought to her witch's pale cheeks by such suggestions. _Hmm... Life is good. _She purred softly to herself at how much things were really looking up this evening.

When they reached the still bustling emergency room however, the Slayer paused once more as her sensitive nose caught traces of a familiar scent. Even compared to all the alcohol and bleach trying their hardest to keep the hospital clean, it was a scent that Natsuki was so attuned to that it was picked out easily. ..._Shizuru?_ But again when she glanced around the room frantically, checking some of the more difficult to see areas three times, she saw no signs of her best friend and recent sharer of amazing kisses. _And there was something else I needed to ask her about... _Natsuki thought as she tried with much frustration to once more sift though the disjointed and rapidly fading memories of the spirit walk.

"What is it?" Mai asked, having also looked all over the room wondering what could have made Natsuki stop and unable to think of anything from just looking at the crowded emergency room.

Natsuki shrugged helplessly, "I don't know... I thought that someone I knew was here is all." She explained, even though the notion that her senses could be wrong was very disturbing, "I guess it's possible that someone just uses the same shampoo..." She trailed off without further elaboration, but Mai knew instantly from the wistful tones exactly who this unidentified someone must be.

Blue grey eyes scanned the room again more sharply as she reached out with her magicks as well, but while she felt a low underlying _throbbing_ of darkness, the Hellmouth she realized, she was unable to detect the familiar and unusual power that she recognized as Shizuru. "I don't think she's here..." She replied hesitantly, reluctant to offer her sore and tired Slayer bad news.

Natsuki smiled good-naturedly as she lead the way through the revolving door, her grin broadening as they finally exited the busy hospital and stepped onto the sidewalk. The sun had just set less than half an hour ago, but Natsuki always loved looking at her territory at night. Even though there was a vampire approaching the two of them in the corner of her vision. Some newbie that didn't recognize the Slayer hoping for an easy weak target from the hospital. It was probably even weaker than a normal fledgling since it had been drinking mostly from the sick and old from the moment it walked out of the morgue.

"Hello pretty girlies," The vampire lisped, "Did you want me to walk you to the bus stop? There's plenty of scary peoples out there who'd jump at a chance to take advantage of such juicy and innocent looking morsels." He offered helpfully. His slightly pudgy looking face scrunched up in confusion as the two humans started _laughing._

"Yeah, why don't we all walk together into that nice dark alley over that way?" The dark haired one offered helpfully with a confident gesture, "It's a shortcut to our bus stop."

"Oh! Of course. Yes, well just follow me. I'll keep the crazies away, yes indeed." The vampire nodded, once more enthusiastic despite his confusion. After all, just because he was immortal now he didn't figure that pretty girls should stop being confusing. Even if he could finally get some of them to do things he'd only _dreamed_ about as a weakling human.

The Slayer suppressed a growl at the disturbing predatory smile on the vampire that served to make him look more like one of those human predators that took advantage of weak children than a noble wolf or tiger. She barely waited until they were out of sight of the main hospital doors before she attacked him, and she grinned despite the pain in her sides when she saw two more vampires joining the fight. She looked to her right to see Mai roll her eyes at her before smiling slightly, raising one of her pale freckled hands that danced with bright orange magickal fire.

Natsuki grinned as the claws of her left hand penetrated the first vampire's chest, shredding his unbeating heart into ribbons until finally he exploded into dust. It was kind nice that there were constants she could count on no matter how crazy her life got. She loved how some things, even what some might consider bad things, never seemed change. She blushed happily as she suddenly found herself kissing her witch passionately over a few piles of dust. _Hmm, I guess a little change now and then was never a bad thing._ She blushed a bit harder as Mai giggled at how enthusiastic Natsuki now was about getting them to her bike as quickly as possible, but the Slayer was in too much of a good mood to mind. _Maybe I'm even well enough to drive._ She thought happily, enjoying the feel of the warm night air on her face and Mai's kind hand lightly gripping hers.


	24. Chapter 24

DISCLAIMER: Here it is. The last chapter of NtVS:2. I hope it's enough to keep you all along for the ride when I start posting the new story in a couple/few weeks. Hope everyone had some nice fun celebrating being on our lovely big blue space ship for one more trip around our nearest star. -.o

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

"_Join us in the shadows where we stand vigilant. Join us as we carry the duty that cannot be forsworn. And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten. And that one day we shall join you."_

Thursday May 03, 2000; St. Peters HS

Natsuki bit the inside of her cheek, only barely managing to stop the yell of maddened boredom that was just itching to escape as her Japanese literature professor continued to discuss the various themes of some story about the lives of noblewomen in the Emperor's court that she had barely skimmed. Mai had attempted to explain to her that the book was actually some fascinating work about the lives of women in those times, but as far as she could tell it was basically just a slightly different version of one of those dramas from American daytime television, only with less cleavage. It wasn't like she wouldn't read the book if it was actually interesting. If only Midori was teaching this class, at least then they might be reading something with a bit more bloody violence.

It was always a bit disorienting, heading back to classes after a big fight like the one earlier this week as though nothing had even happened. Inevitably for the first week or so the normal amount of tedium always associated with a daily schedule was almost unbearable. She growled quietly as she drummed her mechanical pencil rhythmically against her desk, wondering idly if she could come up with a way to turn the flimsy plastic object into a weapon. There was a small plump sparrow perched on the windowsill next to her desk looking in with beady eyes, and Natsuki could almost hear the little feather duster mocking her for being stuck inside on such a nice spring day. At least so far her generally grumpy attitude had been enough to dissuade their professor from calling on her and showing just how little attention she was paying the lecture.

A soft kick at the back of her chair caused Natsuki to turn around slightly, smiling despite her boredom at the sight of Mai's exasperated expression. 'Can't you at least pretend to pay attention?' It accused. Natsuki smirked, leaning back in her chair and giving Mai a raised eyebrow and suggestive look that asked what Mai was willing to offer in return for Natsuki's compliance. The way the witch blushed and immediately looked away from her and back at their professor was enough to significantly improve Natsuki's mood and she stopped actively fidgeting.

She still didn't focus on the lecture though. Instead her mind drifted to Miyu and Alyssa, wondering how they were doing and where they had ended up travelling to. Natsuki hoped that Miyu would at least take into account the list of American towns and cities with Hellmouths that she'd gotten from Midori. So far Alyssa had shown every sign of having no more magickal ability than the average untrained witch now that she had been severed from the source of her increased power, making her more or less helpless against the various baddies that stalked the night. Certainly Natsuki trusted Miyu as much as she trusted anyone, but letting go and just trusting someone else had never been one of Natsuki's stronger suits.

Green eyes blinked startled at the sudden slight increase of talking students near her, and glanced around to notice with relief that literature was finally over. She smiled as she watched their math professor Murakami-sensei setting up for his lesson, the last class before lunch. Even if she liked math, Natsuki still felt a bit of dread as she recognized that he was drawing the unit circle on the board, knowing that this particular discussion was likely to be more than a bit boring. Nevertheless Natsuki began dutifully recording the definitions of the various trigonometric functions in her notebook, leaving plenty of room for any additional notes of explanation that their professor might give.

However just as she was writing down that cotangent was equal to x over y as long as no one tried to do something crazy like dividing by zero, she felt Duran's unmistakable touch in her mind, drawing her away from the lesson. _Natsuki, my Chosen, the world has need of your strength._ The wolf's deep voice sounded in her mind, as she wondered why he couldn't have interrupted her literature lesson instead. She heard Duran's huffing laugh, _It wasn't time yet, and I am not one with power enough to alter such things. A worthy one has need of your help, her friends call on the spirits of all the Champions past and present so that they might defeat a powerful foe with the potential to completely unbalance this universe._

'Didn't I just do that earlier this week?' The Slayer thought, even as she tried to look like she was still paying attention to Murakami-sensei's slow monotone lecture. After all she liked their somewhat quirky math professor and didn't want to hurt his feelings too badly, though obviously if pressed she would have to tell him that he just wasn't as important as saving the world.

_Unfortunately these days your world seems to be regularly under assault by more than one thing of evil. It seems as though the presence of additional Champions only gives them strength. _Duran said wistfully, _This one though is of particular concern, as it was created with the consent of a sovereign government with one of your world's most powerful militaries._ _With the backing of so many powerful humans, this could easily throw the balance of good and evil into an uncontrolled spiral._

The Slayer let out a soft growl. Of course the US government would be up to something like this! She watched the X-files weekly, she should have known better. Why hadn't she insisted that Miyu take Alyssa to New Zealand instead? 'How can you get me there in time though if you can't alter things like that?'

_Easily. They are only calling on your spirit and as the rules have it, pure information is allowed to travel at the speed of light. Since they aren't very far away, that poses no relevant limits on us._ Natsuki nodded absently, receiving a pleased smile from Murakami-sensei as he thought that one of his favourite students seemed to understand his lecture. In reality she was starting to feel the familiar nerves of diving into the unknown as she wondered where this unusual call would take her.

'Is this situation the important event that kept you from contacting me these last months? I needed your help earlier Duran.' Natsuki's mental tone was soft and weak, even to her own mind she sounded like a lonely child pleading with an absent parent. Although she supposed with some amusement despite her sadness, that Duran was indeed the closest thing to a father that she had aside from Shizuru's dad. And the notion of sharing a dad with Shizuru was much more disturbing than being part canine.

_I am sorry Natsuki. _Duran did sound apologetic, and Natsuki blushed faintly despite being in view of all of her classmates at hearing him use her name. _I wanted to come to you, but this and... other things have been drains on my remaining power and I needed time to recharge. It has seemed like ages to you, but I have to operate on a different timescale, as much as I wish that weren't necessary. _His tone softened further, _Spending time with you is one of the few things that I look forward to._

'I'm sorry... I know I shouldn't be so impatient.'

Duran seemed to scoff slightly, _Nonsense, for all that you have grown so, you are still a pup. Impatience is in your nature. _He paused for a moment, and she could feel the odd sensation of him accessing various memories of hers, some of which she had not even been able to access herself and even now could not view. _You certainly have done lots of growing in this short time._ He repeated wistfully, _I am always amazed by how quickly you seem to be growing up._

'When do I need to go?' She asked, quickly changing the subject before anyone else noticed her embarrassment.

_As soon as possible, it is starting._

Natsuki swallowed slightly against the sudden and unexpected rise of tension, going so quickly from boredom to hyper alertness was unsettling even for a seasoned fighter like her. 'Send me.' She replied, her mental voice containing only her complete trust of her wolf guardian.

_Thank you my Champion. Your witch and myself will be certain to guard your body until your return._ He said casually, making Natsuki realize with a start the one bit of information she hadn't considered with this plan. As the world around her began to rapidly fade in a way that was becoming annoyingly familiar, she hoped that Mai wouldn't be too upset with her for adding more unplanned excitement to her day.

Mai gasped aloud as she felt a sudden infusion of powerful magicks coming from Natsuki, though the pleasure she always felt from such contact was immediately stifled by worry. If these last couple of weeks and the few brief tutorials with Midori had taught her anything, it was that sudden and unexpected magicks were seldom a good thing. Hesitantly she placed a concerned hand on Natsuki's shoulder, her brows furrowing as she felt the intense heat coming off of the Slayer's body even through the layers of her uniform shirt and vest. As subtly as she could she gently turned Natsuki towards her slightly, while leaning around so that she could try and catch a glimpse of her friend's face, her breath catching at the sight of green eyes darkened to near amber and burning brightly. She blushed hotly as half remembered bits of a dream returned to her, even as she murmured softly to Natsuki, "Hey, are you alright? ...I thought I felt something."

Mai jumped slightly as Natsuki began to speak, "My Chosen's witch, I need you to watch over her. Keep her safe." The Slayer's voice was subtly deeper and more resonant than normal when she spoke, and Mai glanced around nervously before noticing that no one else seemed to have heard her speak.

"Act sick." The witch said finally, hoping that Natsuki was coherent enough to follow such a simple instruction despite how strangely she was acting. With one hand still gently squeezing the Slayer's shoulder in a comforting manner, Mai raised her other hand and only needed to wait moments before she drew their professor's attention. "Umm... Murakami-sensei? My friend is feeling really sick. Would it be alright if I helped take her to see the nurse?" Mai asked shyly, well aware that the two of them were still in a bit of trouble for skipping classes earlier in the week, despite Midori's careful diplomacy saving them from any official punishment. She gestured to Natsuki helpfully, her face displaying her very real concerned at how sick the girl looked now. The Slayer's normally tanned skin had become very pale and sweaty, her damp hair falling forward into her face as she leaned over, seemingly too weak to sit upright.

Luckily for them, most of the faculty considered Murakami to be a bit of a soft touch with students and Natsuki in particular was one of his favourites. The professor nodded, his thick bushy grey eyebrows drawn together in concern. "Of course, Kuga-san does look like she needs to see the nurse. I'm surprised she came to class at all feeling like that. You tell her when she's a bit more lucid that I hope she feels better alright Tokiha-san?"

"Thank you so much Murakami-sensei." Mai said bowing slightly to the kind older man, even as he waved off her formality. Getting out of her seat she knelt next to Natsuki, putting one of the Slayer's arms around her shoulders, speaking softly in her ear so that only she would hear, "You feel free to lean on me a little while we get out of here. Did you really want to go to the nurse, or just back to our room?" She asked nervously as she helped the worryingly weakened Slayer to her feet, feeling her heart clench painfully as Natsuki seemed to have a difficult time just balancing on her own two feet. Even when the Slayer had been badly wounded during their spirit battle she hadn't seemed this weak.

Mai carefully helped the weakened Natsuki to the door, sparing an annoyed glare for a leering boy in their class who seemed to think he was some hotshot just because he was on their school's baseball team, one of many students hopelessly in lust with Natsuki though the Slayer herself remained unaware of their attention. Seeing such unexpected anger in normally gentle blue eyes seemed to startle the boy and he turned back to the lesson, allowing Mai to give her full attention to helping Natsuki now that some idiot wasn't showing her Slayer such disrespect. They had made it out into the hall before Natsuki responded verbally to her queries, shaking her head weakly, "No. Just our room please?"

Mai glanced at Natsuki out of the corner of her eye again, wondering at how even her normally husky voice now had an undeniably _male_ character to it. She felt her emotions churning more unpleasantly as she realized that there was an unfamiliar distance in her Slayer's eyes that had never been there before, even when they first met. The distance was also present in the way Natsuki seemed to lean on her only the minimum amount required for support. No unnecessary caresses or closeness... "Natsuki...? Are you alright?" Mai asked hesitantly, and then wanted to smack herself for asking dumb questions. "I mean, obviously you're not because you seem really sick... but you're just acting really um... different." She trailed off lamely.

When they stepped out of the school building and into the warm late morning sunshine Natsuki became steadier on her feet and stopped leaning against Mai altogether. Mai felt herself becoming more nervous until a warm hand gently patted her arm, confusing the witch as the touch reminded her more of her late grandpa than her normally almost lecherous young friend. "Natsuki... I really wish I knew what was going on with you." She pleaded softly, wanting to reach out and take Natsuki's hand in hers, but feeling for the first time as though her touch would be unwelcome.

_My Chosen was needed elsewhere. She will be safe, you need not worry. She won't be gone long, but she will be gone longer than she thinks, time will be stretched for her._ Mai suddenly noticed that her friend's lips weren't even moving when she spoke, the words were simply forming themselves directly in Mai's mind. And not in Natsuki's voice at all now that she wasn't expecting it, but rather a deep, definitely masculine voice that Mai didn't recognize.

Now Mai did take Natsuki's hand in her own, gripping more tightly than she normally would have as she reached out to her Slayer with her magicks, trying to determine the nature of what seemed to the frightened witch a kind of possession. _Peace, fiery young witch. I mean your Natsuki no harm._ The being's voice was soft and kind as it lowered its magickal defences, allowing the witch's inquisitive touch. Mai gasped as she realized that she recognized this being. It was always with Natsuki, although before she had only noticed its presence faintly, like shaded lamplight shining out from under a doorway.

Mai remained silent for a while as she led the two of them toward their room, wary of continuing their conversation out in the open where someone might overhear them. She already noticed in her short time at this school that although Natsuki seemed to have only a handful of close friends, most of the students here were extremely interested in learning more about the aloof and beautiful first year. It wasn't as though Mai didn't want to allow anyone truly willing to get to know her a chance, but it seemed that most of them were the kind who might attempt to take advantage of Natsuki's kind nature, unlike Shizuru, and Chie and her group who were truly interested in being Natsuki's friends.

As they finally entered their room, Mai shoved Natsuki lightly against the closed door, studying once familiar eyes more closely. "So who are you?" She'd meant the question to come out sounding a bit more confrontational, but the way it reacted to her interrogation so very similarly to the Natsuki she knew made that difficult. Despite having the superior strength the being simply allowed the slightly undignified rough handling, though Mai noted with a smirk that it didn't seem to quite _enjoy_ it as much as Natsuki did.

"No one special." The creature replied, familiar full lips quirking into a self-depreciating smile, "Just a dying god offering the last of his power to give your world a great Slayer." Darkened eyes lowered, filled with a strange parental sort of affection, "I could not have asked for a more amazing gift than this."

"You're dying?" Mai asked her voice soft and worried despite only just meeting this creature. She knew how much being a Slayer meant to Natsuki, she would be devastated if that was suddenly taken from her.

The being simply laughed, strange because the laugh was in Natsuki's voice but it was distinctly not the Slayer's laugh, reserved in a way that she never way. "You need not worry for her kind child, even if your Slayer was to live for a million years, she would not need to worry." Again he gave her a reassuring pat on the arm, "The death of a god is a very slow process, and it is slowed even further by your Natsuki's devotion. Perhaps supplying power to a new line of Slayers has even been my cure as you mortals say."

Mai finally nodded subtly, slowly releasing the being who was not Natsuki from her grasp, wishing for nothing more than her friend to return and let her know that everything was alright. She backed away, feeling awkward around someone who knew her better than anyone else in the world. "...So do you know when she will be back?" She asked plaintively, a bit annoyed with how desperate she sounded.

The being simply shook its dark head sadly, "No, I am not allowed insight into such things. I am sorry." He replied sadly, walking over and sitting Natsuki's body down in her computer chair with a weariness never displayed by the Slayer. "My pup really is a lucky girl to have someone so concerned for her wellbeing. I told her it was important that she find a good pack to care for, and it would seem she has taken my advice to heart."

"Hmm. So you're the reason she can't seem to settle for just one girl?" Mai asked, though her tone was amused rather than accusatory, still finding herself unable to be truly upset with Natsuki over her indecisiveness. After all she liked Natsuki for who she was, even the parts that some might consider bad.

The old god chuckled at the question, "No... I'm afraid that all comes from her." He shrugged helplessly, "Though I'll admit I can see how she would feel in a quandary. She's young and healthy, and surrounded by attractive females. It's no wonder that she's finding herself a bit spoilt for choice." He studied her carefully, Natsuki's darkened eyes taking on the weight of an ageless god, "You at least seem to understand her dilemma a bit, but don't be too quick to let my pup get away with just anything. Make sure she knows how invested you are in your relationship to her." He smiled sadly, "Your feelings are important too. Regardless of how young and indecisive my pup is, she's a kind girl. She won't intentionally hurt you as long as you let her know exactly how you feel." When she looked about to protest he shook his head, "No. I can see that you're the type who would sooner sacrifice her feelings rather than fight for them, although I can tell that even I would be in danger if you thought I was a threat to your Natsuki." He studied her curiously, "Why is it that you give so much care to her feelings but so little to your own?"

Mai watched him defiantly, even as she blushed slightly at hearing the strange tone of fatherly reproach coming from her friend. "I just have this habit of wanting to take care of others..."

He nodded sagely, "Are you certain it isn't because you're afraid that being too demanding or possessive could scare her away?" Stormy blue eyes could no longer hold his as the witch moved to sit on the floor next to her bed. "It's fine if you truly don't mind sharing her affections with another, some of your kind seem to be content with such arrangements. But don't settle for something that would make you unhappy just because you think it would be selfish to stand up for yourself." He sighed quietly, "I know that my pup wouldn't want to hurt you, but unless you tell her how you feel, even she won't be able to avoid it. And if you still have a difficult time of it, just think how it would make her feel if she knew that her actions had hurt you."

Mai finally nodded slightly, "Thank you... I guess I knew I'd have to really examine my own feelings more closely soon. Things have just been happening so quickly the last few weeks. Sometimes I'm surprised that I even recognize myself in the mirror."

He laughed slightly, "I suppose that is what it means to be young. Well I think it would be wise for you to meditate for these next hours to try and figure out exactly how you feel about your new circumstances." He stood stiffly, walking slowly over to Natsuki's bed, "I think that I will use this opportunity to give my pup an enforced nap. Honestly I don't know how this youngster keeps going when her body is so tired."

Mai giggled softly at hearing her Natsuki grouching like a grumpy old man, especially since that tone wasn't completely out of character for her. "Sure, you rest and I'll just sit here and try and get my thoughts in order. Don't worry if Midori or anyone comes by, I'll deal with them for you so that they won't be suspicious." She offered, somehow knowing that no one knew about Natsuki's strange benefactor.

"Thank you dear, you are most kind." He replied with a yawn as he laid down on the Slayer's bed. Within minutes his breathing slowed and evened out, snoring softly as he napped. For long minutes Mai watched the stranger in her love's body, wondering at how different he made her look. With effort she drew her attention away from the familiar yet different form, letting her own eyes drift closed as she began to slowly sift through the many strange new feelings and experiences of the last month. Mai was under no illusions that this one session of thinking over her complicated friendship with Natsuki would yield all of the answers she needed, but she knew that Natsuki's spirit guide was right. Mai needed to completely understand the nature of her feelings if she didn't want both of them to get hurt.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

It was as if she became the magicks that constantly surged within. Either without sight or in total darkness, she couldn't tell from the weightless feeling in her middle whether she was flying or falling. Had she muscles they would be tensing involuntarily, bracing themselves uselessly against the dreaded final impact. There was no time here, and in the darkness ruled by a complete and total silence it was impossible to know how long she had travelled for when finally there was a voice shining out a beautiful bronzed light in the blackness.

The voice spoke in American English, but she knew that even if it spoke in a language she didn't know, the meaning of each word would be clear. The voice was soft and female, and radiated a sense of such authority and power that she knew it could command her to do anything and she would obey without question. As she heard the words spoken she drew closer, unable to resist the power behind the call.

"The power of the Slayer, and all who wield it. Last to ancient First, we invoke thee. Grant us thy domain and primal strength. Accept us and the powers we possess. Make us mind and heart and spirit joined, let the hand encompass us. Do thy will.

"Spiritus, Spirit." Slowly the Slayer's adrift spirit began to coalesce near the powerful caster, though she was not yet able to see or hear normally without a body to inhabit.

"Animus, Heart." Spoken in the voice of a kind young male, the sound of his voice felt safe, like the older brother she never had.

"Sophos, Mind." An older male, his voice carried a gentle sort of authority, a wise mentor who you would always try your hardest to avoid disappointing. Something about the way he spoke English words made her think of Midori, and she smiled inwardly at the thought.

"And Manus, the Hand. We enjoin that we inhabit the vessel, the Hand. Daughter of Sineya, First of the Ones. We implore thee, admit us. Bring us to the vessel. Take us now." This command again came from the powerful female. Even in the formless darkness, she knew that she must be the Hand that was spoken of and her own power surged within, full of eagerness to help the ones who called for her strength.

Her eyes opened once more, and there was light. Not warm light from the sun or a fire, but the cold sterile white light of fluorescent bulbs. Before whenever she left her body like this she had always woken in another world, but still in her own body. Now she became aware that this was certainly not her body, the hand she saw in front of her was smaller and more tanned than her own. She grinned though as she felt the incredible power surging through them, no matter who this body normally belonged to, they were both _Slayers._

A loud explosion echoed in their ears, and she realized calmly that they were under attack. The one who lived in this body seemed unconcerned by this, that familiar cockiness of a Slayer who knew that the battle was already won; she just would have the pleasure of fighting it. As one they felt the rising thrill of the coming fight, the energy of ten thousand generations' Champions given form in this singular point in space and time. They were infinite and invincible, and as one they followed the will of the vessel, the Hand.

They stood, turning slowly to face their opponent as though it was a mere annoyance, unworthy of the effort required to hurry. Their opponent was a strange creature. He seemed at first glance through the thick white smoke of the recent explosion to be nothing more than a powerfully built and heavily scarred human male. Her experience with Miyu however allowed her to quickly notice the parts of him that were machine, and the parts that were demon. But she could tell from the cold look in his mismatched eyes that this creature lacked the compassion of her new sister, possibly because the government that created him thought that a soldier was weakened by such feminine things. She remembered how powerful Miyu was from the one time they'd faced off but she felt no fear now, knowing that the power of so many Slayers combined could do nothing but defeat this or any foe.

Their foe's face bore the confident grin of a fool with no clue of the infinite power that stood before him. He was already within their range, by the time he knew he was beaten there would be no escape. "You can't last much longer." His voice was deep and assured as he smirked at them, foolishly thinking that just because they were small that they were weak. A few of them were surprised when he didn't have an Austrian accent.

"We can. We are forever." They spoke as one, the voices of countless Champions, most of whom had been dead for longer than men knew of farming or writing. But even if most had been slain by demons, all were eager to prove themselves one last time. Many among them were great mages and they began casting a powerful spell of protection in a language seldom spoken, while the demonic soldier watched them, his confusion written clearly on his patchwork face.

"Interesting..." His tone was hesitant now but his gun arm was steady as he raised it. Then there was the rhythmic, deafening sound of his gun firing and the clinking of the brass shells bouncing off the cement floor. They made no move to avoid his fire and the bullets vanished into the air before them, their matter dispersed into energy that was pushed into the dimensions between. The air in front of them rippled slightly as it filled the space created by their passing.

"...Very interesting." They noted dispassionately that his mismatched eyes now betrayed his fear, that they were something more than he could understand. Some of them surged eagerly, wanting to go on the attack, but the vessel held them firm, her will greater than all of theirs combined. There was the sound of shifting metal, and the whistling hiss of a rocket launcher being fired. But even at such close range, when the Hand was raised the deadly rocket shell was changed into a trio of harmless white doves, symbols of peace that scattered as they fled from the war torn room.

Again the Hand reached out. They felt the workings of the demon's weapon arm without ever touching it, and with another wave of their hand it collapsed. Their expression betrayed nothing as it was again a mere monstrous demonic appendage. They walked casually toward the demon as he charged them, flowing around his clumsily thrown punches like water. Finally they allowed one to land, catching his huge hand in their small fist, throwing a few punches at his armoured shoulder and head like a lioness playing with her wounded catch. This Slayer's fighting style was different than her own, but Natsuki simply let go and focused her strength with the vessel's. She used more acrobatic dodging and kicking, and when Natsuki tried to summon their claws on the first punch she realized that this Slayer didn't have them.

Elation flowed through them as a powerful kick sent their bulky opponent flying back into one of the heavy security boards, sparks shooting everywhere as his dense body destroyed the various electrical bits within. Relentless, they continued their approach, effortlessly blocking his feeble attempts to strike them and bringing their small hand up to grip mercilessly at his thick throat. "How can you...?" He groaned out, still not truly understanding how very beaten he was.

"You could never hope to grasp the source of our power." They replied contemptuously, throwing his massive body to the ground as though it were made of feathers. They pushed him back, leaping into the air so that they could rain powerful kicks down on his chest as they backed him into the flimsy drywall, his mismatched eyes still wide with fear and confusion. Natsuki knew the vessel's next move as though it was her own, and even without claws their powerful punch easily penetrated through the demon machine's thick skin and muscles. Their small hand shoved aside the soft internal organs until they were gripping the hard bones of his spine in their clinched fist. They stared defiantly into their foe's shocked eyes, his Chosen executioner carrying out justice as they pulled with all their strength against something meant to withstand the force of a small nuclear explosion. But they didn't relent. And with a sickening cracking, his reinforced spinal column gave way.

They grinned as they held the green and glowing mass of unstable uranium, bone and gore in their fist in front of the demon, hardly looking at him as he fell to the ground, defeated. "But yours is right here." As one they beheld their power to destroy their enemies, basking for a brief moment in their victory.

A strange young man was standing near them, but for now they ignored his presence. "Buffy?" He inquired, and Natsuki zeroed in on the name. Most of her attention was held by the vessel though; they needed to disperse this dangerous object that they held. Again the spellcasters within knew the solution, and they spoke the words of their spell as the spoils of their victory slowly levitated above them, disappearing harmlessly into the lands between.

Their task was done. Most of the old Champions summoned instantly dispersed, but Natsuki held on desperately as she felt the one she was joined to overcome with an almost crushing sensation of responsibility and loneliness. _Buffy. Your friends. They're everything. No matter what, don't let them go. They'll be there for you, just let them. _She thought loudly, trying to comfort the Slayer of the old line with everything she had. The young man was calling Buffy's name again, and they turned studying him with some confusion as though neither Slayer could quite figure out why he was here. Natsuki felt the familiar sensation of darkness approaching but fought it off for a moment. _Please Buffy, don't let them go. Every Slayer needs a pack._ And then they both collapsed into the blonde man's strong arms as Natsuki's spirit was torn away, and Buffy was again alone in her own body.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

Natsuki gasped as she startled awake in her own bed, for once the entire memory of a foray out of her body was clear in her mind. The room was dark, the curtains were drawn and it was already early evening outside. She was sweating heavily and shivering, but she only had to wait moments before she felt a soft blanket draped over her shoulders and then the warmth of her witch's arms wrapped tightly around her as Mai crawled under the blanket next to her. "Mai, I love you." She spoke quietly, her voice rough as though she hadn't spoken all day. She needed to say the words, the weight of her destiny was nothing compared to this chance to love and be loved by someone like Mai.

Her witch's reply of "I love you too" was slightly muffled by her face being buried into Natsuki's neck, and she felt her heart clenching at the feeling of Mai's tears falling on her skin. "You stupid Slayer, I was so worried." And Natsuki could tell that Mai meant it, even if the way she clung to her so desperately diminished the credibility of any real anger.

Natsuki simply held her witch close, running her fingers soothingly through soft orange hair. "I'm so sorry. I know I always make you worry." She shivered again despite being surrounded by warmth as she remembered the lonely feeling of being the other Slayer. "I'm sorry I couldn't take you with me. I know I don't deserve you, but please Mai. Don't leave me." She pleaded softly, now clinging to her witch with just as much desperation.

She almost giggled despite herself at the faint sensation of Mai punching her in the stomach as her witch pulled back slightly to look at her. "You're such a dummy sometimes. How many times do I have to tell you? You're not getting rid of me, even if you try and chase me away."

Natsuki smiled at the sight of stormy grey eyes glaring down at her, unable to resist placing a soft kiss on Mai's pouting lips. "Thanks. Sorry that I'm fishing for pity when I made you worry all day."

Mai shrugged, letting out a slight sigh as she settled back into Natsuki's embrace. "It's okay. I shouldn't have been upset with you for making me worry. That's only your job after all." She replied grumpily as Natsuki giggled. "Laugh it up Slayer. I'm still going to get Shizuru-san to spank you."

"But I thought you said I didn't do anything wrong!" Natsuki complained theatrically through her laughter even as she nuzzled against Mai's ear, purring slightly as she breathed in the familiar scent of her witch.

Mai giggled too now, both from the ticklish feeling of Natsuki's hot breath in her ear and her protests, as though the Slayer really feared either of her girls forcing her into something she didn't want. "You didn't have to do anything wrong, I just thought it would be hot." She said in her best sultry voice between giggles.

"Mhmm." Natsuki grinned, this particular line of teasing no longer reducing her to a blushing speechless mess. "Are you sure you want to see her spank me? Or did you want her to do it to you?" She questioned her voice low in Mai's ear as she grabbed at the soft hair at the nape of Mai's neck as though it was a kitten's scruff. "Aren't you the naughty little pet trying to take things that belong to Shizuru-sama?" The witch whimpered quietly at the rough handling, squirming slightly in Natsuki's hold. "Answer me." She insisted, the familiar scent of her witch's arousal letting her know that Mai didn't really want her to stop.

"Yes." Her reply was almost too quiet for even Slayer-hearing.

"What was that?"

"Yes. I'd want that." She gazed up at Natsuki with submissive blue eyes, "If it would please Natsuki and Shizuru-sama."

It was Natsuki's turn to whimper at the truthfulness in Mai's tone. The mental image of her two girls together no longer caused any feelings of jealousy, and Natsuki thought that she would have given her right eye to see such a beautiful sight. _Jesus, I am one lucky Slayer._ Her eyes began to feel heavy as she yawned unexpectedly. _The hell? I just woke up._ She growled in annoyance even as Mai rubbed her t-shirt covered stomach soothingly. She wondered briefly how she'd gotten changed out of her school uniform, but soon the comfortable warmth and exhaustion from the spell overwhelmed her and she was once more drifting in darkness with only Mai's gentle touch to guide her home.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

"_Always alone."_

Natsuki knew that she was dreaming as she walked down a dark suburban street, a small blonde woman keeping stride beside her. Even though she hadn't seen the other Slayer when they were together during the spell, Natsuki knew from the strange tingling at the base of her skull that the woman beside her was Buffy. Both of them were armed as any Slayer should be at night, the blonde with a wooden stake and a small dagger, Natsuki with her old knife from when she was younger. She wondered absently why she wasn't using her claws.

"Did you bring me here?" Natsuki asked awkwardly, looking down at the tiny blonde walking beside her, smaller than Natsuki even in her impractical heels and tight red leather pants.

She flinched as she noticed that Shizuru's mother was walking beside them on Buffy's other side. Her lower jaw was missing, and empty eye sockets stared at Natsuki accusingly. Buffy didn't really look at either of them as they walked along silent, deserted streets, searching for something though Natsuki didn't know what.

"Your words won't be enough to save her. She will be mine." The rotting corpse of Sakuya proclaimed, but Natsuki recognized the dark creature that she fought to save her sister in the hollowed out eye sockets. Suddenly the road they were walking down came to an end in the form of a sheer cliff. Deep below them laid the rubble of an entire town, seemingly swallowed by the Earth itself.

"...Buffy? Please... would you let me help you?" Natsuki asked shyly when the other Slayer still did not speak. She was beginning to wonder if this was one of those dreams where she was invisible to everyone but the other dead. She had them sometimes when she thought about dying too much.

"No one can help me." The little blonde replied, her voice sounded husky and jaded, a sharp contrast to her sunny California girl appearance. Her dark hazel eyes were hard as they stared down into the wreckage below without sympathy, as though wishing the dead town a good riddance. "They need me to help them. It will take them if I don't go."

Natsuki nodded firmly, "Then you need to go. No matter what you can't lose them."

"How can I do anything else? No matter how hard I fight or how long, nothing ever gets better." Buffy let out a long tired sigh, using her high heeled boot to kick a broken off piece of asphalt down into the gaping pit below them. Natsuki wished she could find the courage to give the little blonde a hug or something, she'd never heard anyone sound so defeated.

But it seemed that words were all she had here. "No. But it would get a lot worse if we stopped. We need them."

"I know. But I'm going to let them down." Her voice cracked slightly as she spoke, but it sounded more like she had been breathing in too much smoke during a battle rather than being overcome with emotion.

Natsuki nodded sadly, "I'm afraid we both will, but we still have to try."

Finally those hard eyes looked at her, blinking with a bit of surprise as they finally took in the young girl standing at her side. "You keep saying 'we'."

"Yes, we." Natsuki gave the older girl a slight smile as she raised her clenched fist and showed the Slayer by her side her bloody boneclaws for the first time. "You're not alone here." She smiled at Buffy's widening eyes, "I'm not the important thing here though. Your friends are. They'll keep you human. I can't do that for you, I can only help you fight when the time comes."

"But you'll be here?" Buffy asked, the hardened warrior finally sounding vulnerable. Natsuki wondered if anyone had ever been able to say 'no' to that adorable pout.

She averted her green eyes so that she could answer truthfully instead of just telling the little cutie what she wanted to hear. "I won't be able to make it before dawn. Or even before the long darkness. But I'll be here before the waterfalls."

"I have to go or I'll be late." Buffy reached out and squeezed Natsuki's hand, heedless of the younger Slayer's claws as they scratched her slightly.

"I'll see you again when the night fades." Natsuki said softly as she watched Buffy walk away, her stride even and commanding despite the weight of the destiny on her tiny shoulders. "I wish I could help you sooner, but every warrior must face the darkness within alone." She said softly, her clenched fist resting over her fast beating heart as she wondered what trials she had yet before her, what darkness within she must face before she saw the little blonde again.

Natsuki turned away from Buffy's slowly retreating form and the world around her shifted and changed. Now she walked through a wintery ancient forest. The ground was covered in snow, and the branches of the massive trees were bare, allowing the faint light from the pale grey sky to fall on Natsuki unhindered and amplify as it reflected off the snow at her feet. Her snowshoed feet did not sink into the thick drifts of snow, despite the heavy burden of the felled buck deer with his impressive rack of antlers thrown across her leather-clad shoulders. Far ahead through the thick woods she could see a thin column of smoke circling lazily skywards and she knew instinctively that this was her destination. _Home._ Her heart beat faster in a happy rhythm as she thought of who might be waiting for her there.

But though the snowy forest was silent, save for the light crunching of her shoes on the snow and the occasional scraping of her kill's antlers against a nearby tree branch, Natsuki did not make her journey alone. The curvy blonde woman should have seemed out of place here in this world of winter, with her bare feet that seemed to float over the snow and her flowing pink dress that bared the soft tempting flesh of her belly to the biting winds. But those deep blue eyes that studied Natsuki quietly seemed to hold such wisdom that Natsuki was certain she walked next to a goddess of the Earth itself, at home anywhere in her domain. What need had such a creature of protection from her own elements?

"I was expecting Duran." Natsuki finally spoke somewhat rudely, wanting to break the uncomfortable silence, as though she would really rather have her wolf guardian here than a beautiful woman.

The woman simply chuckled softly, the sound of her voice smooth and rich like warm honey. "I am sorry great hunter. I did request that your source allow me to speak with you in his place."

Natsuki glanced at the strange woman with surprise, "Why? We don't know each other do we?"

She shook her head, deep blue eyes full of a sadness that seemed horribly unjust to the Slayer. Certainly Natsuki didn't know this woman, but it seemed wrong to her that someone who seemed the essence of kindness should be so sad. "I'm afraid we won't ever know each other. That's why I asked him. I wanted a chance to meet you, at least this once."

The burden that Natsuki carried on her shoulders suddenly seemed much heavier at the notion that she might never meet this woman. The forest around them became darker and more foreboding, as though the sun shrouded by the winter clouds was sinking closer to the horizon unseen. "Well I'm glad you're here for now. The journey is easier with someone to talk to." Natsuki replied, trying to focus on how lucky she was to meet this goddess now, realizing that their meeting here was a gift. She shifted the buck's weight on her shoulders, wincing slightly as one of his sharp hooves scraped uncomfortably against her gloveless hand.

"That's an impressive kill, but are you sure it will be enough?" The woman asked, her low voice full of genuine concern that warmed Natsuki despite the winter wind beginning to blow harder against her face, its cold nipping uncomfortably at her cheeks.

Natsuki nodded confidently, "It will be plenty enough for my girls anyway. That's the important thing. I need to make sure they have enough for the winter. The years seem longer now and spring won't come for a long time."

"Hmm." Full lips curved into a quirky smile and despite herself Natsuki felt herself reacting to it as long fingers caressed her arm, squeezing gently. She gasped at the feeling of warm magicks infusing her, and despite the protection they offered from the winter's cold she almost dropped her kill at the unexpected distracting pleasure. Only her long practiced stubborn strength kept her centre of gravity in place as she studied her strange temptress, pleading with her silently to stop the teasing so that Natsuki could finish her journey. "I'm sorry sweetie you're just too fun to tease and you did seem cold. They are very lucky to have such a dedicated protector, but why aren't you more worried about making sure there's enough for you too?"

Natsuki shrugged, continuing her long walk towards the safe smoke in the distance now that her legs were steady again. "I'm just not sure if I'll be around for long anyway, so I make sure that they'll be okay first. If something happens to me, I want to make sure that they at least have each other."

The woman nodded, some of her dark blonde hair falling in her eyes. "I understand wanting to make sure the ones you love will be safe even after you're gone." She spoke more softly now, seeming to understand Natsuki's concerns only too well, and the Slayer wondered what a goddess could possibly know about mortality. Amused blue eyes shifted back to Natsuki, "But you should know better than to try and solve the equation when you don't even know all of the variables."

"You think there's something I haven't thought of?" Natsuki asked, trying not to sound offended. After all she was talking to a goddess. There was every possibility that this being would know more of the future than she did. "And forgive me but you didn't seem like a math nerd."

The goddess actually giggled, the sound of her soft laughter seeming to brighten the forest again like the golden light of a harvest moon. "I'm really not a math nerd. I suppose I have just been spending too much time with one lately." Her smile remained even as her tone became more serious, "What I meant was that you shouldn't plan too carefully for things that aren't guaranteed. Your fate is not written, it is within your power to make your own."

Natsuki gave the kind woman her own smile, "I know. Thank you for telling me though... I guess I just worry that I can't keep winning forever. Eventually something's going to be stronger or smarter than me, or just get lucky. And it's not like I'll ever be able to stop fighting. This is what I am."

The woman laughed again, "You Slayers are all the same, even if you're so different." She reached out to straighten Natsuki's winter hat, "Just don't be too surprised when something completely unexpected happens." The goddess gave her a playful wink before turning to walk off into the silent forest, her curvy form soon disappearing in the blowing snow. Then Natsuki watched as her own burdened body began walking again in the direction of the curling smoke while she remained alone in the forest until her body was out of sight. She wasn't sure how much time passed, but soon she had been enclosed by the cold darkness.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

_"Please teach me gently, _

_how to breathe."_

When Natsuki's eyes opened again she found herself laying in bed in a painted cave that seemed similar to the one in the alien savannah. She could feel an impossibly warm, smooth sensation moving slightly along her side and she felt her breathing catch at the familiar yet impossible sight of Shizuru curled against her. The play of patches of sunlight over the perfect angles of a face she would know by touch alone was a sight Natsuki never wanted to forget. For long moments she simply watched her friend, trying to memorize how this felt. It wasn't long before Natsuki became aware that they were both naked under the covers, but strangely she had no feelings of embarrassment despite never having seen Shizuru naked before. She was now much more aware of the smooth skin sliding against her own with each breath.

Despite the pleasant sensations, Natsuki couldn't quite contain her confusion. "I don't understand. Were you here when I fell asleep?" she wondered aloud as she played with a strand of warm, dark golden hair.

Though Natsuki's voice had been only barely loud enough to be heard, as soon as she spoke rusty eyes opened and were gazing at her affectionately as Shizuru snuggled closer. "No matter where I am, part of me is always with Natsuki."

Natsuki purred contentedly at the feeling of Shizuru's skin against her own, basking in the feelings of warmth and comfort. Despite wanting to just lay still and enjoy the pleasant feelings, almost without her bidding her eyes looked around at her surroundings. She realized that they were definitely in the same cave where the spirit trial sent her to help save Alyssa. The paintings on the wall though were subtly different. It was still covered in various depictions of crudely painted demons of all shapes and sizes, many bearing sharp horns, spikes and thick plates of natural armour, not unlike dinosaurs from Earth's distant past. But it was different. Instead of the dark warrior with her body covered in skeletal white paint there was a poorly drawn Natsuki, her dark scars and claws exaggerated in size and darkness. At her side stood Shizuru and Mai, the witch was watching Natsuki with affection but Shizuru was gazing off into the distance longingly, even as the back of her left hand brushed against Natsuki's claws.

"What you're doing? To keep me safe? It won't be enough." Shizuru spoke again, her smooth tones breaking the silence, resonating softly against stone walls. She didn't seem disturbed by what she said, raising her hand so that she could run her fingers over the defined ridge of Natsuki's collarbone.

"I don't know what else I could do. I've been doing everything that I can." Natsuki realized that her own throat was sore her voice sounding as though her vocal cords were badly burned, as though she were still recovering from the wounds she sustained the last time she was in this in between world.

"There is nothing you can do. Some things are meant to happen. It was decided as soon as your power was granted, to balance the scales." Shizuru brushed her lips lightly against Natsuki's jaw, and the Slayer felt her friend's smile against her skin when she whimpered softly in response to the kiss.

Natsuki sighed even here in Shizuru's comforting embrace, "No power is ever granted for free."

Shizuru nodded sadly reluctantly standing and walking over to the mouth of the cave, clearly unembarrassed by her nudity. Natsuki now knew for certain that this was a dream, because she didn't find Shizuru's body nearly as distracting as she would have in real life. Shizuru carefully opened the heavy treated leather curtain, revealing the vast grassy expanse of African savannah. This time the sun wasn't the foreboding red orb, but instead the more familiar yellow of home burning high overhead in the dark blue sky, its bright rays washing out the colours in the grasslands below. In the distance she could see a pack of hyenas lounging under a tree while some of their youngsters fought with each other, their high pitched yips and growls carrying even into the Slayer's rocky home. "But you accepted it without hearing the price."

"I was given a choice?"

Shizuru smiles wryly, "Not a good one. No one ever is. I don't regret it though. No matter what happens from now on, my Natsuki must know that I wouldn't want things any different." She stares at Natsuki longingly, "Though there is perhaps one thing I would have wanted. To kiss my Natsuki just once in the sunlight." Somehow even though they had just woken up naked in bed together, the simple request sent a flush to Natsuki's cheeks and set her heart pounding painfully hard in her chest. A tingle of awareness in her mind told her that on some level if she granted Shizuru's request here, even though it was a dream, anything they did here would be real. With Shizuru's full beauty on display in the warm sunlight even if she had only requested a kiss, it was impossible for Natsuki to avoid thinking of more.

Natsuki threw off the covers. She noted with approval that Shizuru's skin is so perfectly clean, pale and smooth, and she felt her tongue involuntarily swiping out to wet painfully dry lips and her hands twitching at her sides with an intense desire to feel that warm softness beneath them. Her own skin in addition to the old dark scars running across her chest and arms, was covered various patterns painted in dark war paint. Her dark hair instead of falling down her back completely unadorned, had many long small braids intermittently throughout it, each tied off at the end with a bit of leather, some with feathers hanging from them. Shizuru's hair simply flowed over her shoulders like liquid bronze, the only item adorning her body the Auryn on its plain leather cord.

Shizuru's look of affection was so possessive as Natsuki approached her. Even if Natsuki had never felt more the part of the chosen mystical warrior here in her primitive home, those intense rusty eyes moving over her painted body suggestively like the whole of it was Shizuru's to do with as she pleased sent a pleasurable shiver through her. Shizuru smiled as Natsuki finally stood before her, reaching out a gentle hand to tilt Natsuki's face up slightly so that she could press her lips against Natsuki's in an insistent kiss. Natsuki whimpered happily at the feeling of Shizuru's mouth moving softly against hers, her warm tongue gently caressing her lips and stroking teasingly against the point of a sharp canine as her hands gripped Natsuki's hips tightly. At this moment Natsuki felt as though everything she was belonged to Shizuru, her knees were weak as she allowed her friend to control the kiss, never had she felt so vulnerable and feminine. It was at once a feeling that was vaguely uncomfortable to her in its strangeness and yet it was exhilarating to just let go and simply trust Shizuru for a while.

Even as she concentrated on the amazing feeling of being kissed by Shizuru, Natsuki was aware of the intense sensation of Shizuru's naked body pressed against her own. The aroused points of their breasts sliding against each other as they breathed heavily and the smooth skin of Shizuru's thigh pressed lightly against the place between Natsuki's legs that burned for attention. Natsuki moaned quietly into their kiss, sharp teeth biting down lightly on Shizuru's lower lip as she tried to increase the pressure of Shizuru's thigh against her, seeking desperately to try and ease the intense burning sensation that demanded touch.

She growled softly when instead of giving into her demands, Shizuru instead broke their kiss and moved away from her, walking outside and into more direct sunlight. "Shizuru..." She pleaded softly as she followed her friend outside. Approaching more cautiously this time she wrapped her arms tightly around Shizuru pressing her body against Shizuru's side, standing up slightly on her toes so that she could kiss the tempting bare skin of Shizuru's neck. "Why did you leave?" She begged, pulling back just enough so that she could watch her friend's face, not sure what she had done wrong.

Shizuru smiled faintly at Natsuki's open and forward affections, but there was an intense sadness in her rusty eyes that Natsuki couldn't understand. After all, why should Shizuru be sad if they were together? "Natsuki... I don't think you have any idea what you do to me."

"Well if it's anything like what you do to me, I don't think you should be trying to get away from me. That's not going to help anything." The Slayer protested Shizuru's seemingly senseless insistence on stopping, her sharp teeth tracing the tantalizing pulse point on Shizuru's neck. "Please Shizuru." She whimpered softly as she could feel something inside her responding to the powerful blood that flowed just beneath the surface, what was it about Shizuru that made her so needy? "I need you."

For a time Shizuru stood unmoving, her arms falling loosely at her sides, unable to choose between pulling Natsuki closer or pushing her away. She hadn't really expected Natsuki to respond with so much enthusiasm, she'd always seemed awkward and shy about romantic things whenever Shizuru teased her. It seemed instead that once her initial nervousness was overcome, Natsuki was going to have a difficult time settling for just innocent cuddling and kissing. Shizuru shivered even in the hot sunlight as Natsuki's short blunt nails scratched lightly over sensitive skin until a small calloused hand was firmly gripping the swell of her ass, pulling her even closer against Natsuki.

Shizuru had fantasized about touching Natsuki like this for almost as long as she could remember, but she felt suddenly uncertain. Should they really share their bodies for the first time here? In this world that was not their own? She had wanted to be sure that Natsuki was really hers, but the insistent intimate caresses were becoming too intense for her to keep resisting, even if she feared that she might pay for this indulgence later. After all neither of them was ready for this emotionally, but gods forgive her, she needed this. If only this once. "Natsuki is always welcome to touch me. I am always hers."

"Are you sure?" Natsuki asked, pulling back slightly even as she reached out to take Shizuru's hand in her own. Her cheeks reddened, but she still had to say it, for some reason worried that Shizuru was agreeing to something she didn't really want. "You don't have to let me just because I'm horny... I could figure something out." Natsuki smiled even while she continued blushing as Shizuru giggled at her expense, happy that she hadn't made Shizuru too uncomfortable.

Shizuru nuzzled her face into Natsuki's hair as she tried to get her giggling under control, her nervousness over the new experiences that she had agreed to seeming to increase her amusement. "I'm sorry Natsuki." She said finally, though her tone was still light from her laughter, "I don't mean to make fun of you. It's just... I wanted us to be at home when I touched you for the first time." She smiled, her confidence returning more at the sight of that familiar blush. "So that I could make Natsuki as much mine as I am hers."

"Shizuru..." Natsuki breathed her name as though in prayer. "You know I love you right?" Shizuru nodded silently, even as wondered if Natsuki meant the same thing that she did when she said those words. "I mean... you're my best friend. Even if you weren't comfortable with this you'd still be my best friend..." She let out a sigh of relief as Shizuru cut off her rambling with a gentle kiss.

"Ssh. I already said that I am Natsuki's. She need not worry that anything could change how important she is to me." Shizuru's spoke softly, using her calm voice to sooth both of their nerves.

"...But you said that your first time to be special... I wouldn't want to rush you with my impatience." Natsuki's tone hardly indicated that she wanted Shizuru to agree with her though, and Shizuru noted with some amusement how those green eyes stayed focused on hers. She wondered if Natsuki was afraid she would lose control again if she let her eyes wander.

The older girl smiled mischievously at that thought and decided immediately that she would test to see if it was true. She had decided to seize the moment, no matter what happened she would have no regrets. She ducked her head subtly so that she was looking up into Natsuki's eyes through her eyelashes, smiling inwardly at how even this small change in her demeanour seemed to cause the dark haired girl to start breathing harder. She trailed her fingers lightly over the scars on Natsuki's arm as she turned and took a few steps away, putting more of her body into view of smouldering green eyes. Slowly she made a show of stretching out her sleep sore muscles as she watched the horizon. When she turned back the Slayer was practically trembling where she stood, her fists clenching and unclenching as if only the greatest willpower kept her from simply claiming what she wanted.

Shizuru finally took pity on her, holding out her hand to Natsuki who tentatively stepped forward to again take it in her own, intertwining her still trembling fingers with Shizuru's. She leaned in to rest her forehead against Natsuki's, as she gazed into almost desperate green eyes, a smile played over her lips that were already nearly brushing against lightly tanned skin. For a moment she revelled in the caress of Natsuki's laboured breathing, and the trembling calloused fingers as they carefully touched her cheek as though afraid that they could scare Shizuru away. It always amazed her how much of an effect her simplest actions had on Natsuki. "I realize that I was being silly. I am with Natsuki. That should be enough to make anything special." She moved her lips closer to Natsuki's ear, making a show of sharing some dark secret. "And besides, Natsuki knows how much I love the sunshine. When else could we be like this outside together without drawing all sorts of unwanted attention or getting horribly sunburned in places that are difficult to explain?"

Natsuki giggled at Shizuru's silliness and her trembling lessened as she finally allowed herself to trust that her body wouldn't betray her, that she wouldn't do anything Shizuru wasn't ready for. "I really like that idea. So I take it you don't want to head back inside?" Natsuki teased and then blinked in surprise as she noticed that somehow their primitive bedding from the cave was laid out on the soft grass in front of them. "...How?"

Shizuru smirked, "You say that like you've never seen magicks before." Natsuki wisely decided to respond to Shizuru's teasing with a kiss as she urged her friend toward the blankets, giggling slightly when Shizuru's skill caused her to lose focus enough that she ended up tripping over the edge of one of the blankets and falling unceremoniously on her ass, pulling a laughing Shizuru down on top of her. "What happened to those supernatural reflexes of yours?" Shizuru teased.

"Heh, well they're why I fell on my own ass instead of landing on you."

Shizuru grinned as she rubbed her nose against Natsuki's affectionately, "Natsuki is so sweet. Her protective nature even extends to protecting my ass from unsightly bruising."

Gently Natsuki rolled them over so that Shizuru was laying on her back looking up at her. For long moments she couldn't even breathe at the sight of the simple open smile on Shizuru's face and the way the sun on her pale skin made her seem to almost glow like an angel. "Shizuru... you're so beautiful." She spoke softly and reverently, very aware that she was in the presence of something greater than herself as she gazed at the perfect goddess stretched out beneath her.

Remarkably Shizuru's cheeks pinkened slightly at the simple compliment, "I'm glad Natsuki thinks so."

"Of course I do." She murmured as she placed soft kisses along Shizuru's angular cheeks before nuzzling her nose gently against eyelids that had fluttered closed at her show of affection. She smiled at the feeling of Shizuru giggling quietly under her and the light, almost ghostly soft feeling of eyelashes brushing over her own skin. "Please..." She begged shamelessly, her calloused fingers of her right hand trailing gently along the perfect unscarred skin of Shizuru's side, enjoying the comforting feeling of her breathing. "Let me show you how much." Her tone was again that of a worshiper as she breathed out her prayer between slow kisses, Shizuru's full, slightly parted lips too tempting for her to resist.

"Please Natsuki." Shizuru replied almost too quietly for Natsuki to hear, and she pulled back slightly to see vulnerable red eyes staring up at her, full of trust and anticipation.

At first Natsuki could hardly believe what she was hearing, that Shizuru was really giving her this gift. "Are you sure?"

Shizuru nodded, a hint of her normal teasing smile playing over her lips, though the vulnerable look in her eyes didn't fade. "I know I'd only regret it forever if we didn't share this." She spoke simply, her normal showy way of speaking melting away in this private moment between them. Natsuki couldn't help the silly smile that she got in return, loving these rare moments when she got to see Shizuru as she truly was, completely unmasked. "Please Natsuki? Touch me."

For a moment Natsuki felt as though Shizuru was squeezing her very heart lightly in her fist as she struggled to breathe, her pauses between each breath used to shower Shizuru's face and neck with grateful kisses. She wondered if her entire life had been leading up to this, the two of them alone together, a whole world to themselves that seemed to exist only because they loved each other. Finally she allowed her eyes to trail slowly over Shizuru's body beneath her, long lean muscles from her weapons training, their strong swell covered with just the right amount of feminine softness. The full curves of her hips and breasts and her slightly wavy liquid bronze hair falling around her like a halo made Natsuki wonder if Shizuru was really Venus made mortal just for her.

Still hesitant at first she began kissing Shizuru deeply, her hands trailing innocently over the tempting curves of Shizuru's thighs and those soft hollow spots between the sharp bone of her hips and strong abs that just felt so amazingly female. She smiled as she felt Shizuru whimpering into their kiss and writhing against her, their smooth skin warmed by the sunlight covered in a thin sheen of sweat sliding easily as their bodies touched. Natsuki purred contentedly as she breathed in the scent of strange wildflowers and sun baked earth, and the enticing honey of Shizuru's aroused body. "Please Natsuki..." Shizuru spoke again, her normally smooth voice almost unrecognizable as she struggled to speak through the intense sensation of even these mostly innocent touches.

"Ssh. I won't tease you." Natsuki promised quietly as she kissed Shizuru's lightly flushed earlobe, her tongue trailing down that rapidly fluttering pulse point that she couldn't resist nipping at again, moaning softly when Shizuru's body jumped under her in response. She wondered how even if she'd never done this before she seemed to know exactly what to do, though she fought down a slaphappy giggle as she remembered that the internet was a most helpful research tool for the unwillingly innocent. "I love you so much." She said softly, bringing her hand up to brush her fingers lightly over the impossibly soft skin on the underside of a full breast, whimpering slightly as she drew out the moment. She gasped as Shizuru arched into her touch, their hard nipples sliding against each other as her normally restrained love tried to get even a little more direct contact to help ease her intense arousal.

"You said you wouldn't tease me." Shizuru accused roughly as she pulled Natsuki into a hard and demanding kiss.

Natsuki whimpered happily at Shizuru's possessive touches, wondering if her friend actually thought that such treatment was an effective punishment. _Of course I really want to touch her, so I don't need to be encouraged._ She smiled into their kiss as she grasped Shizuru's breasts more firmly, the light rasping sound of her rough calloused palms sliding against Shizuru's silky smooth skin almost as loud in her ears as the sound of her own thundering heartbeat. "You'd be disappointed if I didn't tease you just a little."

Shizuru smacked Natsuki's ass lightly as she let out a small growl, "Shut up and just touch me."

Natsuki giggled, the light slap registering only as pleasure to her Slayer-senses. "Yes ma'am." She teased a little more, enjoying the feeling of a few more rougher touches from Shizuru in response before she finally obeyed Shizuru's demand to put her mouth to better uses than talking.

She kept up her firmer caresses of Shizuru's breasts as she again found herself distracted by kissing that soft neck, wondering if she had been spending too much time around vampires lately that she found the soft flesh so tempting. She growled happily as she licked at the tempting hollow of Shizuru's throat and nipped affectionately at her sharp collarbone. Her hands trailed downward to grip the soft curve of Shizuru's hips as she pressed their bodies together, unable to resist thrusting gently into the warm wetness that she could feel sliding over the bare skin of her stomach.

Hard white teeth bit down more firmly on Shizuru's collarbone, trying in vain to cool her rising need. She wanted this to last forever, but she also wanted desperately to take and have. Shizuru pressing herself more firmly against Natsuki's stomach did nothing to help her slow things down, but at least she knew her love wanted this as badly as the Slayer did.

Ducking her head she sighed contentedly as she took a wonderfully hard nipple into her mouth, the act of suckling it a delicious combination of comforting and arousing. She wondered at how amazingly soft and smooth the flesh in her mouth was even as it was hard and unyielding as she teased it gently with her teeth. She smiled as she felt one of Shizuru's hands tangling gently in her hair, encouraging her to continue lavishing affection on her breasts, as though Natsuki would want to stop for anything.

She loosened the grip of one of her hands on Shizuru's curves, trailing her fingers over soft skin as she carefully moved her hand between their bodies. She gasped around the hard nipple in her mouth as the tips of her fingers finally encountered the hot slick heat of Shizuru's centre. Reluctantly she released Shizuru's breast from her mouth moving again to kiss the tempting flesh of her neck as she concentrated on the amazing feeling of the liquid heat against her fingers. She'd touched herself before when she needed to take the edge off, but it never felt so amazing, like warm wet silk. "Can I...?" She breathed, wondering at her own restraint.

Shizuru merely nodded wordlessly, suddenly completely still and Natsuki pulled back as she noticed silent tears trailing down her friend's cheeks. "...Shizuru?" She questioned softly, kissing away the tears as stopped moving, her fingers resting motionless despite her desire to make Shizuru hers right now. "Are you sure...?"

Shizuru nodded again, "Please." She managed to get out, thrusting her hips lightly against Natsuki's hand. The Slayer whimpered as Shizuru's movement caused the tips of two of her fingers to slip effortlessly inside, the feeling of soft warmth gripping at her so tightly overwhelming her. Unable to resist she pushed her fingers in deeper, moaning as her palm came to rest against an impossibly hard raised bit of flesh.

"I love you so much Shizuru." She murmured as she moved her fingers slowly inside. Her rough calloused palm kept catching slightly on the hardened nub with each slow thrust, causing Shizuru to make delightful little pleasured noises that only served to add fuel to Natsuki's already overwhelming desire. The Slayer tried valiantly to keep things slow, to draw out Shizuru's pleasure as long as she could, but the intense new sensations of wet warmth gripping her fingers so lovingly and the feeling of her own clit rubbing rhythmically against the back of her own hand all too quickly proved too much. Soon she felt that wet silk gripping her fingers even more tightly as Shizuru's arms desperately held her close, her legs stiffening against Natsuki's own. Another thrust of her hips against her own hand was all it took for Natsuki to feel herself exploding and following Shizuru into bliss, her eyes closing even as lights seemed to flash in them. Nothing had ever felt this intense. "I love you Shizuru." She repeated breathlessly in another prayer, "Thank you so much."

Shizuru just nodded wordlessly, still overwhelmed. Suddenly Natsuki realized that her vision was darkening around the edges, and she growled loudly as she fought against the sensation of the world around them slowly losing its form. _No! I just want to stay here forever, please don't make me leave. _She pleaded loudly in her mind with the unforgiving universe, her unheeded yell of frustration cut short as the darkness became complete.

-MH-BtVS-MH-BtVS-MH-

Natsuki awoke in darkness, Mai's comforting arms wrapped tightly around her and the peacefully sleeping witch's breaths brushing lightly against her neck. Her heavily sweating body trembled as the pleasant aftershocks from her recent release fought with vague feelings of guilt for dominance. She whimpered slightly at the faint traces of Shizuru's unmistakable scent that she would know anywhere inexplicably lingering on her fingers despite the fact that they'd touched in another world.

Only a short distance away, red eyes opened in panic, though at this moment even this small distance felt to the two old friends as large as the dark ever-expanding distance of the universe. The loud sound of Haruka's snoring echoed through the otherwise silent room as Shizuru fought to control her heavy breathing, the memory of her recent dream as vivid and real as if it had really just happened. _Oh gods Natsuki, what have I done?_ She wondered silently as she slowly rose from her sweat soaked sheets. She was still shaking as she walked unsteadily down the short hallway of her shared dorm room for a long cold shower. But even as she tried to use cold water and soap to wash away her guilt, Shizuru smiled slightly. She had no regrets.

"_I don't care if forever never comes,_

_cause I'm holding out for that teenage feeling."_


End file.
